Cholera

A variety of studies can be utilized in the attempt to determine both causal and contributing factors regarding risk factors. Out of the multiple typologies surrounding the concept for research, one observational variety to consider is ecological. As with all methods of measurement, ecological studies have been shown to have both strengths and weaknesses. However, when considering the substantial strong correlations that have been found when using this method, whether it be those regarding diet…

How John Snow’s Skepticism and Open-mindedness Influenced His Method of Conducting Research At the beginning of the 18th century little was known about cholera transmission or disease communication in general. The miasma theory was in full force. Most of the science world accepted the miasma theory and completely rejected any other theory for disease transmittance. This greatly hindered advancements in research of communicable diseases because miasmas were understood as a fact and no…

I. Introduction The cholera outbreak in Haiti has claimed the lives of over 7,000 Haitians and has sickened over 470,000 since the 2010 earthquake.1 An effective program that Haiti should consider is using a mass vaccination of a new and inexpensive oral cholera vaccine called Shanchol, which has been successful in Odisha, India.2 II. Body of Paper A. The emergence of cholera in Haiti was initiated by a number of existing problems. There where two national disasters that struck Haiti between…

written Emergence, Everything Bad is Good for You, and Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation (Steven Johnson). II. Summary The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson takes readers through the streets and lives of London filled with the cholera…

Communication is important. Writers of newspapers are dedicated to publishing events past and present for all citizens to be informed. In the year 1893 two major public health events occurred, the small pox outbreak in Indiana and the testing of a cholera vaccine in India. Thanks to newspaper articles and the internet, the people of 1893 and the people of 2015 can read about everyday life during these landmark events. Mostly controlled since the outbreak in 1876, in Muncie, Indiana, located…

founder of Modern Epidemiology. John Snow is a 19th-century reformer who used mapping to document the relationship between health outcomes and environmental conditions. Snow is most famously known discovering Anesthesia and locating the source of Cholera. Not to mention Snow is best known for his intelligence and hard work despite his harsh circumstances. As we look into John’s life every moment is worth noting. Born in York, England on March 15, 1813, John Snow is the first out of nine…

In 1850s London, life was a lot different than it is today. Different aspects of the city played a role in the spread of disease and poverty such as lack of structured sanitation systems, over populated neighborhoods and homes, and high costs of living. Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map is a descriptive narrative that showcases the relation between the spread of disease, population density, the common folk and life in London in the 1850s. In an attempt to discuss the narrative of The Ghost Map and…

Chadwik being a miasmatists who did not heed an understanding of Snows findings Chadwik believed he recognized the dilemma and had the perfect solution. Chadwick continuing to believe that the cholera was airborne thought that getting that pollution out of the air would be crucial to the extinction of cholera. These ideas lead to the concept of dumping all the waste into the Thames river in hopes that the stench in the air would decrease and there would be less casualties. Although…

explains that dead bodies of the poor “were thrown in to a hole which is 14 feet deep” (pg. 13). The gravedigger would often be “up to [his] knees in human flesh, jumping on the bodies, so as to cram them in the least possible space…” (pg.13). When cholera hit, the dead and the plagued were the first ones to be blamed. In fact, in the eyes of society, they were already contaminated and continued to spread their infections even as bones (pg.16). This vivid image shows how, in a crowded society,…

Steven Johnson’s “The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic – and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World” examines the disastrous Cholera epidemic that struck London-- one of the world’s first urbanized centers-- in the summer of 1854. It delineates the rapid movement of the Vibrio cholerae bacteria through an area lacking proper infrastructure to accommodate a population branching into the millions, and relays the importance of scientific understanding through…