19th century medicine

• What was the 1848 public health act?

  It allowed local councils to improve sanitation and health if they choose to, but it was not compulsory
• What was the 1875 Public health act?

  It made it compulsory for local councils to prove clean water, proper sewage, and waste disposal
• What did Lister do?

  He made antiseptic surgery by using carbolic acid which killed bacterias
• What did Pasteur do?

  He proposed his germ theory which is the idea that bacteria caused illness and disease. This influenced Lister. He also made a vaccine for chicken cholera and anthrax
• What were the living conditions?

  Very poor. There was overcrowding, people lived in slums and 57% of children would die before age 5
• What was in the rivers?

  Factory waste
• What did Ehrlich do?

  He developed the Salvarsan 606, a magic bullet to kill disease like syphilis. Other chemicals used his ideas like penicillin
• What’s a limit to Koch’s achievements?

  His work didn’t result in any improvement in public health
• What are Koch’s achievements?

  He discovered how to stain bacteria using chemicals

  He found the anthrax disease by injecting a mouse
• What are Koch’s stepping stones to the future?

  His work led to Ehrlich‘s discovery that some chemicals looked for and killed bacteria, leading to the magic bullet
• How did others build on Lister's work?

  Surgeons started wearing scrubs and more safe clothing as well as gloves.

  They were now sterilising surgical instruments

  They now remove all germs from operating theatres
• What were the results of Lister’s work?

  Infection rates dropped from 50% to 15% in 4 years. He reduced death rates from 46% to 15% in 3 years.
• Why was it difficult for Lister to get his ideas accepted?

  People still believed in spontaneous generation. They said he didn’t know what he was doing

  Others couldn’t do the surgeries as well as lister and he struggled with public speaking
• What was the belief that individuals should take responsibility for their health not the government?

  Laissez-Faire
• What did Chadwick do?

  He wrote a report about the poor living conditions and recommended a clean water supply and cleaner streets
• What did Chadwick publish and when?

  ‘The Sanitary Conditions of Labouring Population’ in 1842
• What did Snow do?

  Investigated the 1854 epidemic and found that victims got their water from the same pump. He closed this pump and deaths fell
• When was the Great Stink?

  1858
• What was the Great Stink?

  Parliament was disturbed by the horrific smell coming from the river thames. It intensified in the summer and was caused by the sewers
• What did Bazalgette do?

  He fixed the Great Stink by building a new sewerage system with £3million from the government. Cholera also never returned
• What is the long term effect of Bazalgette’s work?

  The sewerage system he designed is still used today
• What did Nightingale do?

  Improved hygiene by introducing hand washing and ventilation and nutrition. Mortality rates dropped from 40% to 2%
• What did Nightingale do outside of improving sanitation?

  She set up Britains first nurse training school at St Thomas Hospital in 1860 and wrote Notes on Nursing in 1859