|
During the 19th century, three previously encountered diseases and one emerging infectious disease, cholera, reached epidemic proportions. == Medical responses == Epidemics of the 19th century were faced without the medical advances that made 20th-century epidemics much more rare and less lethal. Micro-organisms (viruses and bacteria) had been discovered in the 18th century, but it was not until the late 19th century that the experiments of Lazzaro Spallanzani and Louis Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation conclusively, allowing germ theory and Robert Koch's discovery of micro-organisms as the cause of disease transmission. Thus throughout the majority of the 19th century, there was only the most basic, common sense understanding of the causes, amelioration and treatment of epidemic disease. The late 19th century was the beginning of widespread use of vaccines.〔Baxby, Derrick (1999). "Edward Jenner's Inquiry; a bicentenary analysis". Vaccine 17 (4): 301–7〕 The cholera bacterium was isolated in 1854 by Italian anatomist Filippo Pacini,〔See: * Fillipo Pacini (1854) ("Osservazioni microscopiche e deduzioni patologiche sul cholera asiatico" ) (Microscopic observations and pathological deductions on Asiatic cholera), ''Gazzetta Medica Italiana: Toscana'', 2nd series, 4 (50) : 397-401 ; 4 (51) : 405-412. * Reprinted (more legibily) as a (pamphlet. )〕 and a vaccine, the first to immunize humans against a bacterial disease, was developed by Spanish physician Jaume Ferran i Clua in 1885,〔(onlinelibrary.wiley.com )〕 and by Russian-Jewish bacteriologist Waldemar Haffkine in July 1892.〔(haffkineinstitute.org )〕 Antibiotic drugs did not appear until the middle of the 20th century. Sulfonamides did not appear until 1935, and penicillin, discovered in 1928, was not available as a treatment until 1950. During the second cholera pandemic of 1816-1851, the scientific community varied in its beliefs about its causes. In France doctors believed cholera was associated with the poverty of certain communities or poor environment. Russians believed the disease was contagious and quarantined their citizens. The United States believed that cholera was brought by recent immigrants, specifically the Irish. Lastly, some British thought the disease might rise from divine intervention. During the third pandemic, Tunisia, which had not been affected by the two previous pandemics, thought Europeans had brought the disease. They blamed their sanitation practices. The prevalence of the disease in the South in areas of black populations convinced United States scientists that cholera was associated with African Americans. Current researchers note they lived near the waterways by which travelers and ships carried the disease and their populations were underserved with sanitation infrastructure and health care. The Soho outbreak in London in 1854 ended after the physician John Snow identified a neighborhood Broad Street pump as contaminated and convinced officials to remove its handle. His study proved contaminated water was the main agent spreading cholera, although he did not identify the contaminant. It would take many years for this message to be believed and acted upon. In London, in June 1866〔Johnson, S: The Ghost Map(〕), a localized epidemic in the East End claimed 5,596 lives, just as the city was completing construction of its major sewage and water treatment systems. William Farr, using the work of John Snow, ''et al.'', as to contaminated drinking water being the likely source of the disease, relatively quickly identified the East London Water Company as the source of the contaminated water. Quick action prevented further deaths.〔 During the fifth cholera pandemic, Robert Koch isolated ''Vibrio cholerae'' and proposed postulates to explain how bacteria caused disease. His work helped to establish the germ theory of disease. Prior to this time, many physicians believed that microorganisms were spontaneously generated, and disease was caused by direct exposure to filth and decay. Koch helped establish that the disease was more specifically contagious and was transmittable through contaminated water supply. The fifth was the last serious European cholera outbreak, as cities improved their sanitation and water systems. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Diseases and epidemics of the 19th century」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|