Why there was rapid change in public health in the 19 th century

In the 19th century there was a rapid change in public health because the develop of
new scientific theories about microbes and the diseases, particularly vaccination, the
second public health act in 1875 and the report on sanitary conditions of Edwin
Chadwick which helped and promoted the diseases spreading.

After the influence of the germ theory by Pasteur´s about microbes in the air causing
the decay, many scientists found new links of microbes and disease such as Edward
Jenner. Edward Jenner gathered evidence of over 1000 cases where smallpox
inoculation had failed. He became really interested in smallpox and he regularly
treated dairy maids for cowpox. Therefore, he noticed that the people who had cached
cowpox didn´t catch smallpox. In 1796, he tested his theory by infected a boy with
cowpox and, six weeks later he didn´t catch smallpox. Although he wrote up his
findings, he wasn´t able to explain why or how it worked so a lot of people were
against it. The church thought his method was against God´s will, inoculators weren´t
happy about seeing his business destroyed and the royal society thought that there
were a lot of opposition to Jenner´s ideas in the scientific community. Despite this, the
parliament was in favor. Consequently in 1872, the government began to enforce the
compulsory vaccination which saved a lot of lives in the 18th century, smallpox cases
fell dramatically.

Owing to improve living conditions in cities, especially in larger cities, cholera arrived
to Britain. This epidemic led to the death of thousands of people. As a result, in 1852
Edwin Chadwick published his report on sanitary conditions of the Labouring Classes.
With his work he showed that people living in cities had a much lower life expectancy
than people living in the countryside. Chadwick concluded that this was down to filthy
living conditions in cities, furthermore, he campaigned for all cities to set up boards of
health, who would be responsible for supplying clean water and disposing of sewage.
Although he didn´t had so much of an impact on conditions at the time, later he
gathered evidence emerged, supporting the theory that clean water was vital for a
health population. Finally, the government was willing to act.

In addition, for the work on Florence Nightingale before and after the Crimea, by the
end of the 19th century nursing was better and cleanliness was the outmost importance
in hospitals. Furthermore, in the 19th century anesthetics were developed like in 1847,
James Simpson discovered chloroform, an effective anesthetic that needed to be
carefully controlled, helping with the pain. Also, the development of germ theory led
to the antiseptic surgery, that helped to stop infection with cleanness like the spray of
carbolic acid, a chemical that clean bacteria from wounds theorized by Joseph Lister.
Although this was a massive improvement in surgery´s, blood lost was still a problem
as blood transfusions hadn´t yet been developed. Even though hospitals were cleaner,
the sanitary conditions of towns in England and Wales weren´t good since the dirt
water spreading around the towns with microorganisms in it, such as cholera. For
these reason in 1875, the government organized the second Public Health Act which
had a lot more of an impact than the first one, preventing diseases spreading and
helping people becoming healthier. City´s authorities had to follow the rules, including
responsibilities like providing clean water, disposing of sewage, building public toilets
and more solid steps. This worked and in the last cholera epidemic the mortality rate
was lower.

In conclusion, for the influence by Pasteur´s about microbes causing the decay , the
work of Edward Jenner with a new vaccine against smallpox, the improvement with
cleanliness in hospitals by Florence Nightingale before and after Crimea , the
improvement of surgery, the work by Edwin Chadwick showing that people living in
cities had a much lower life expectancy than people living in the countryside and
especially how the government took charge in vaccination and was an effective way in
the Second Public health, there was a rapid change in the public health in 19 th century.