Zusammenfassung der Ressource
1750-1900 Killer Diseases
- Cholera
- First arrived in Britain in 1831
- Was frightening
- People could die within a single day
- It spread so quickly that thousands could die within a few weeks
- How it is spread
- Through bacteria passed on through food & water that have been contaminated by the excreta of an infected person
- Effects
- Sickness and diarrhoea; sufferer often dies within 24 hours
- Up to two-thirds of sufferers died
- Diphtheria
- How it's spread
- Through tiny droplets when coughing and sneezing or through contact with the soiled clothing of an infected person
- Effects
- Bleeding and sometimes paralysis; suffocation from a blocked throat often leads to death
- The death rate was one in ten but it particularly affected children
- And survivors took a long time to recover
- Smallpox
- How it's spread
- By touch, or through tiny droplets when coughing or sneezing
- Effects
- A rash turns into blisters filled with pus
- The blisters become crusted and fall off leaving deep scars
- About a 3rd of all sufferers died
- Tuberculosis
- Spread through tiny droplets when coughing and sneezing
- Effects
- Coughing becomes constant
- victim brings up blood
- Chest pains
- often severe weight loss
- Nearly half of all sufferers died
- Typhoid
- How it's spread
- Through bacteria passed on through
food and water that have been
contaminated by the excreta of an
infected person or through food
infected by flies
- Effects
- Headaches, fever, constipation and then severe diarrhoea
- Up to one third of the sufferers died
- Especially those who were already weak
- The old
- The young
- The malnourished
- Treating Cholera
- (were all used against Cholera in the 19th century)
- Burning the clothes and bedding of the dead person
- Praying
- Cleaning the house and scattering chloride of lime around
(this was used in whitewash to make things look clean)
- Smoking cigars
- Using lucky charms
- Burning barrels of tar/vinegar to create smoke on the streets
- Making 'special mixtures' of liquids or pills that were supposed to cure all illnesses
- During the Renaissance there had been a growing interest in science
- This affected people's ideas about the causes of disease
- By the 18th century they were less likely to blame disease on supernatural causes or unbalanced humours.
- The search for a new explanation of illness based on natural causes now developed into two main theories
- Miasma
- Disease was caused by bad air that was filled with
poisonous fumes from rotting matter
- Spontaneous generation
- Disease was caused by germs that were produced by flesh and vegetables
as they rotted