Cholera In The 19th Century

The American-French Doctors in Philadelphia, 1793, tried to treat yellow fever. Foreign ships brought the deadly infected mosquitoes to America. People got this disease by blood to blood contact, which is when an infected mosquito bites someone, and then bites another. Now, because of this blood to blood contact, over 4000 people died. So now, let 's get to the facts. How was yellow fever treated?

In Philadelphia in 1793, a disease that filled the whole town with terror broke out and struck the world, yellow fever. The disease spread rapidly and killed an estimated 2,000-5,000 people. Long ago, the best doctors in America lived in Philadelphia during this epidemic disease. They studied yellow fever as best as they could with their prior knowledge from previous diseases. The American doctors couldn’t find the right cure so that was when the French doctors came to America and helped treat the fever. The fever got spread due to infected mosquitoes. Refugees came to America and brought the disease.

Scarlet Fever affected the U.S in the 1900s and was caused by a bacteria that spread to form rashes that affected children and sometimes ending in death. The treatment was really dangerous. They didn’t have the treatments we do today, that 's why a lot of people were killed. Scarlet fever is one the most dangerous infections of the 1900s.

In the summer of 1854, London was swarming with people. Having a population of more than two million, it was the most densely populated city on the planet, and with 432 people per acre, the area of Soho was London 's most densely populated sub-district. This is where chapter one of The Ghost Map unfolds. Chapter one of Steven Johnson 's account of London 's 1854 cholera epidemic is titled "The Night-Soil Men,” referring to the inner-city rummagers that spent their free time collecting and selling human waste. Yes, London in the mid-19th century was knee-deep in shit, which Johnson attributes to a number of factors, not the least of which was the introduction of the water closet. Water closets were a hit with the community, but nobody knew

Due to disease and illness, emigrants on the Oregon trail had a hard time trying to thrive and survive in the west. Disease was everywhere and people couldn’t avoid it. The National Park Service’s (NPS) article on the Oregon Trail states that “Cholera results from a waterborne bacteria that thrives

One of the biggest summer nuisance would be the mosquito, but more specifically the Ades aegypti mosquito. The Aedes aegypti is the vector for yellow fever and the cause of the numerous deaths. In her book The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic the Shaped Our History, Molly Caldwell Crosby presents the idea that the mosquito is not just the only reason an epidemic occurred in the 18th century. This story accounts for the disease that broke out across the world and nearly destroyed almost all of North America’s population, which some believe could have been avoided by simple quarantine analysis and sanitary methods.

Disease in the 1700s significantly contributed to the decline of the Native American population; after European contact exposed many to serval diseases. The most significant disease, however, was smallpox. By the end of the 1800s, Native Americans had suffered a series epidemics having a devastating effect and leaving some tribes destined for extinction. Historian Alex Alvarez perspective examines if the spreading of smallpox was a deliberate or unintentionally spread. In this analysis, he covers disease in Native America and the link between smallpox and genocide.

Johnson’s “The Ghost Map” gives a very detailed narrative of life in London during the mid-1850’s. We see a city full of growth on a massive scale. The population was growing exponentially, industrial technology allowed supply to keep up with demand, and Victorian ideas were bustling through the streets. However, the waste from this massive growth was piling up just as fast. London became the largest city in Europe all the while creating a breeding ground for disease. Johnson’s view of London allows us to critically examine the similarity and differences with other urban areas 150 years later. Political, social, and economic agendas within these urban areas have evolved as well. The accounts of John Snow and Henry Whitehead show how new ideas

Sometimes the smallest things have the biggest impact. What was infinitesimal but so widespread that no part of North America was untouched by it? The devastation of Smallpox in the 1700s played a key role in the outcome of the revolutionary war and also in shaping modern medicine and in how we handle diseases. But these medical advances didn 't come without terrible sacrifice. Nearly 30% of europeans living in the Americas during the epidemic would succumb to smallpox totaling thousands. But the indigenous population fared much worse. Nearly 90% would be eradicated by smallpox. A result of having no immunity to the newly introduced virus.

In 1854, Cholera seized London with incredible force. A capital of more than 2 million people, London had just become as a one of the first modern cities in the society. But lacking the foundation necessary to sustain its dense population - garbage extraction, clean water sources, sewer systems - the city has grown to be the ideal breeding ground for a terrifying epidemic no one understands how to cure.

A man named Edwin Chadwick advocated for this miasma theory heavily, and even proposed the dumping of waste into the river Thames to rid the cities of the smell supposedly contributing to cholera. This would only make the problem worse, as cholera is spread through bacteria in the water supply. Keeping this in mind, Snow and Whitehead continued to interview and conduct research until they reached their consensus, that the water in the Broad Street well was contaminated, and anyone who consumed water via the pump would eventually contract cholera. With evidence to back up his claims, Snow urged local officials to remove the handle from the well and his request was granted. Later, committees were formed to investigate the issue further and Whitehead was hired for the case. Upon researching, the once difficult to believe theory of contagion became true. Along with Snow’s collection of evidence, the cholera outbreak case was solved, marking an incredible achievement in both urban and medical

Charles Rosenberg argues that by 1866, moralistic concepts of disease had faded and “scientific values and habits of thought” (Rosenberg 232) gained prevalence. While this is true of the 1866 cholera epidemic, it does not accurately predict the future development of the conception of disease. Although scientific thought steadily increased in prominence, moral judgements rose once again with the advent of germ theory. This essay investigates the context surrounding Rosenberg’s statement, comparing it to Terence Powderly’s 1902 warning of “the menace to the nation’s health of the new immigrants” (Powderly, 1902). It first argues that the post-civil war environment facilitated the waning of religious and moral judgments as the basis for the

for this disaster is very much real. The Center for Disease control reports that “because smallpox was wiped out many years ago, a case of smallpox today would be the result of an intentional act. A single confirmed case of smallpox would be considered an emergency. There is no treatment for smallpox disease, and the only prevention is vaccination”[15] It would be almost impossible to disseminate and spread enough of the vaccine in a quick enough time so as to prevent casualties. This intentional use of Smallpox against a non-inoculated population is not a foreign concept to the world. In the Siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac’s War in 1763, historians report that the British gave gifts of blankets from a smallpox hospital to the chief, Maumalutee,

It is clear that overpopulation and unsanitary conditions are to blame for the cholera outbreak. Issues of diagnosing cholera became difficult, due to society’s previous views on the cause of disease. Miasma became the believed and accepted cause of the outbreak. Snow’s overall difficulty would come from disproving this hypothesis, along with convincing individuals that cholera was infact a water borne illness, originating from Broad St well.

Various factors contributed to the population decline of Native Americans, from advanced technology to diseases. When Europeans arrived in America, they brought with them diseases that could wipe out a large amount of people who were not immune to the diseases. Europeans brought better weapons and more experience in warfare. Also, they had strength in their sheer numbers, which helped to overpower the Native Americans. With better weaponry and warfare experience, epidemic diseases, and utter numbers the Europeans were able to overpower the Native Americans and cause the population of Native Americans to decrease.