Vaccination Flashcards

Inoculation was the primary method of preventing smallpox before Jenner's discovery.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduced inoculation to Britain in 1718.

Inoculation involved making a cut in a patient's arm and soaking it in pus taken from the swelling of someone who already had a mild form of smallpox.

A significant risk of inoculation was that patients had to experience smallpox before becoming immune, and some died as a result.

Edward Jenner observed that milkmaids who contracted the milder cowpox did not get smallpox.

Jenner tested his theory in 1796 on a small boy named James Phipps.

Jenner coined the term 'vaccination' from the Latin word for cow, 'vacca'.

Although experiments were used during the Renaissance, it was still unusual for doctors to test their theories in the 1700s.

Some doctors who administered the older inoculation method saw vaccination as a threat to their livelihood.

Parliament gave Jenner £10,000 in 1802 to open a vaccination clinic and a further £20,000 later.

Vaccination against smallpox was made free for infants in 1840 and compulsory in 1853.

The prevailing philosophy was laissez-faire, meaning the government should not interfere in people's lives.

Jenner did not know why his vaccine worked, which prevented him from developing other vaccines.

The Germ Theory, published by Pasteur and others, enabled the development of vaccines against other diseases.

Before the Germ Theory, people believed in miasma (bad air) and spontaneous generation, and thought disease caused germs.

Louis Pasteur was the first to suggest that germs cause disease.

Pasteur showed that sterilized water in a closed flask stayed sterile, while sterilized water in an open flask bred germs.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek's invention of the microscope in the 17th century was important.

People found it hard to believe that tiny microbes could cause disease, and each germ responsible for a specific disease had to be identified individually.

The Germ Theory inspired Joseph Lister to develop antiseptics, proved John Snow's findings about cholera, and linked disease to poor living conditions, leading to the 1875 Public Health Act.

Koch used agar jelly for cultures, dyes to stain bacteria, and photography to record his findings.

Koch identified the microbes for anthrax, septicaemia, tuberculosis, and cholera.

Florence Nightingale improved hospital hygiene and raised nursing standards, transforming nursing into a respectable profession.

The death rate was 42% before Nightingale's intervention and fell to 2% two years later.

Mary Seacole was a nurse who also served in the Crimean War, nursing soldiers on the battlefield and establishing a hospital, shop, and canteen.

Her book explained her methods, emphasizing hygiene and professionalism, and became a standard textbook for nurses.

The period between 1846 and 1870, when longer operations due to anaesthetics led to increased death rates from infection due to unhygienic surgical practices.

Anaesthetics solved the problem of pain during surgery.

Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and ether were identified, but early use was often ignored or risky. Chloroform became widely used but could affect the heart.

Anaesthetics allowed for longer, more complex operations, but surgeons' lack of knowledge about hygiene led to increased deaths from infection.

Antiseptic methods (killing germs near wounds) and aseptic methods (preventing germs from reaching wounds).

Joseph Lister pioneered the use of antiseptics.

Lister used carbolic acid sprays, which immediately reduced death rates from as high as 50% to around 15%.

Aseptic surgery focuses on creating a germ-free environment, whereas antiseptic surgery focuses on killing germs that come into contact with wounds.

Surgical gloves were invented by William Halsted in 1889.

Cities were overcrowded, dirty, and lacked proper water and waste facilities, with shared privies and contaminated water supplies.

The prevailing theory was miasma (bad air).

John Snow was a London doctor who showed that cholera was linked to contaminated water, specifically by mapping cases to a particular water pump.

Snow convinced the local council to remove the handle from the Broad Street water pump, which stopped the outbreak.

The 'Great Stink' was caused by sewage in the River Thames, which forced the government to plan a new sewer system.

The Act's impact was limited because towns could choose whether to set up health boards, and those that did often refused to spend money.

It gave more industrial workers the vote, allowing them to pressure the government to address health concerns.

It forced councils to appoint health inspectors, maintain sewerage systems, and keep streets clean.

This act allowed local councils to buy slums and rebuild them according to new housing standards.

The 1875 Act was more effective because its provisions were compulsory, unlike the voluntary nature of the 1848 Act.