American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 152, No. 1 : 4-9
Copyright © 2000 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
COMMENTARIES |
John Snow: The First Hired Gun?
From Bristol-Myers Squibb, HW 19-1.01, 313 Pennington-Rocky Hill Road, Pennington, NJ 08534.
ABSTRACT
The 1854 English cholera outbreak led to reform of Victorian public health legislation, including the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act. The reforms threatened the closure of many factories whose fumes were considered hazardous to the public's health. The second witness to appear before the Parliamentary committee considering the reforms was Dr. John Snow. Snow testified on behalf of the manufacturers threatened by the reforms. He stated that the fumes from such establishments were not hazardous. He contended that the workers in these factories did not become ill as a result of their exposures, and therefore these fumes could not be a hazard to the general public's health. Snow also presented data from the 1854 cholera outbreak as the basis for his belief that epidemic diseases were transmitted by water, not air. Although the data concerned cholera, Snow extended the inference to all epidemic diseases. When the committee's report was published, The Lancet chastised Snow in a stinging editorial. Parliament subsequently revised the bill in favor of the manufacturers and passed it into law. The implications of this particular episode in the history of epidemiology are discussed.
epidemiology; cholera; history of medicine, 19th cent.; legislation; public health
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
Related articles in Am. J. Epidemiol.:
- Invited Commentary: The Testimony of Dr. Snow
- Jan P. Vandenbroucke
Am. J. Epidemiol. 2000 152: 10-12.[Extract] [FREE Full Text] - John Snow and Modern-Day Environmental Epidemiology
- Dale P. Sandler
Am. J. Epidemiol. 2000 152: 1-3.[Extract] [FREE Full Text]
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  P. Moayyedi Invited Commentary: Clues to the Etiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease--A Return to John Snow? Am. J. Epidemiol., October 1, 2006; 164(7): 624 - 626. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. D. Smith Commentary: Behind the Broad Street pump: aetiology, epidemiology and prevention of cholera in mid-19th century Britain Int. J. Epidemiol., October 1, 2002; 31(5): 920 - 932. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. P. Sandler John Snow and Modern-Day Environmental Epidemiology Am. J. Epidemiol., July 1, 2000; 152(1): 1 - 3. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. P. Vandenbroucke Invited Commentary: The Testimony of Dr. Snow Am. J. Epidemiol., July 1, 2000; 152(1): 10 - 12. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|