Nearly 2,000 people died of cholera in London, 1848. Those who survived boarded their apartments and fled to the countryside. Streets were bleached and sprinkled with sulfur to combat the foul odours, miasma, that experts believed caused the infection.
Dr. Snow pioneered population mapping in outbreaks. He moved scientific thinking to adopt the water borne theory of cholera transmission: a feat far tougher than identifying the source of infection.
People believed foul smells caused disease. They thought noxious odours or miasma infected patients. The miasma theory of contagion held popular opinion for most of the 19th century. In its final hours before surrendering to the water borne theory, followers lashed out with invective and calumny. They attacked Dr. Snow and his theory. They even used Snow’s best example and twisted it into support for the old miasma dogma.
What holds unquestioned support in medicine today that will cause incredulous moans of disbelief by clinicians after us?
(photo credit: www.westendextra.com)