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Many hospitals in the United States placed a ban on his antiseptic techniques. After his great success in England, he spoke at an international conference in Philadelphia and this convinced several hospitals to revoke this ban. [48] Germ theory denialism and contagion theory rejection were major hindrances to medical progress in the 19th century.
A representation by Robert Seymour of the cholera epidemic depicts the spread of the disease in the form of poisonous air.. The miasma theory was the predominant theory of disease transmission before the germ theory took hold towards the end of the 19th century; it is no longer accepted as a correct explanation for disease by the scientific community.
Epidemics of the 19th century were faced without the medical advances that made 20th-century epidemics much rarer 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 ...
In contrast, the germ theory held that the principal cause of cholera was a germ cell that had not yet been identified. Snow theorised that this unknown germ was transmitted from person to person by individuals ingesting water. John Simon, a pathologist and the lead medical officer for London, labelled Snow's germ theory as "peculiar". [6]
Basing its sanitation beliefs on miasma theory (as opposed to germ theory), [2] its agenda was based on the construction of sewage systems, street-paving, and the provision of clean water. [1] The movement spread to the United States in the 1840s, reaching its peak in 1880 before declining in the 1890s. [3]
Ewald is known for his "theory of virulence”, suggesting that "the deadlier the germ, the less likely it is to spread", [1] and his theory that many common diseases of unknown origin are likely the result of chronic low-level infections from viruses, bacteria or protozoa.
Zymotic theory was an explanation of disease developed by Justus von Liebig and William Farr in the 1840s. A form of contingent contagionism, it began with a hypothesis on decomposition of large complex molecules, depending on collision with other such molecules. It relied on fermentation as an underlying analogy for disease. [12]
Whilst John Snow's epidemiological maps were well recognized and led to the removal of the Broad Street pump handle (e.g., the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak), in 1874, scientific representatives from 21 countries voted unanimously to resolve that cholera was caused by environmental toxins from miasmata, or clouds of unhealthy substances ...