Industrial period

• Louis pasteur 


  1861 came up with germ theory

  1. microbes cause disease
  2. air is full of microbes
  3. microbes can be killed by heating
• Robert koch 


  discovered bacteria causes diseases like anthrax, cholera

  he was able to identify specific bacteria causing disease
• Florence nightingale

  • promoted pavilion plan hospitals (sanitation, ventilation, supplies)
  • helped train nurses making it more respectable profession
• florence nightingales books

  • 1859 notes on nursing
  • 1863 notes on hospitals
• Aseptic surgery 


  1887 all instruments steam cleaned and sterilised and surgeons wore rubber gloves surgical gowns and masks
• Antiseptics 


  1865 Joseph Lister developed acid spray reduced deaths in amputations by 15% by 1870
• Anaesthetics 


  1847 James simpson developed chloroform
• Edward jenner 


  created first vaccine for small pox by injecting people with cow pox to prevent them getting small pox
• Edward Jenner book 


  1798 An enquiry into the causes and effects of variola vaccine known by the name cowpox
• Cholera 


  1854
• John snow 


  figured out outbreak of cholera was caused by polluted water that was contaminated
• Cholera symptoms

  • diarrhoea
  • vomiting
  • dehydration
  • skin turning blue
• Prevention of cholera

  • burning sweet smelling herbs
  • clean streets
  • keep homes clean
• 1875 public health act

  • cities to provide clean water
  • public toilets
  • street lighting and paved streets
  • parks for exercise
  • public health officers
  • sanitary inspectors
• 1848 public health act

  • national board of health set up
  • force towns to improve water and sewage
  • collect taxes to improve health
  • appoint medical officers
• Edwin Chadwick 


  1842 Report on the sanitary conditions of labouring people

  forced government to take action
• Industrial period 


  1700-1900