How did the Victorians stop the spread of Cholera

asked Jim Gregory.�

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Q.� First of all what is cholera

A.� Cholera is an illness caused by a bacterium called vibria cholerae. It infects people's intestines, causing diarrhoea, vomiting and cramps and is usually caused when someone eats or drinks something that has been infected with the bacteria.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� Is it difficult to halt

A.� Theoretically, no. People must be taught how to clean up their act.

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Q.� How did the Victorians set about doing that

A.� In 1852, Sir John Pringle published a book that discussed ventilation in military barracks and the provision of latrines. Two years earlier he had written about jail fever (now thought to be typhus), and again he emphasised the same needs as well as personal hygiene.

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Q.� Why was it getting worse

A.� As the Industrial Revolution took over Britain, the health and welfare of the workers deteriorated. A movement calling for sanitary reform finally led to the establishment of public health institutions. They were needed, and quickly. Between 1801 and 1841 the population of London doubled; in Leeds it nearly tripled. As the urban population increased, good housing decreased, and sanitary conditions with it.

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Q.� Anything else

A.� Coupled with that, churchyards were bursting with bodies, particularly in the big cities.

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Vaults under churches and the small spaces of open ground surrounding them were crammed with coffins. Many such buildings became direct sources of disease to those who frequented them. In the churchyards, coffins were placed tier above tier in the graves until they were within a few inches from the surface and the level of the ground was often raised to that of the church windows.

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To make room for fresh interments, the sextons secretly removed bones and partially decayed remains and in some cases the contents were systematically transferred to pits nearby.

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Q.� Action was needed

A.� Yes. The ball was set rolling when Thomas Southwood Smith founded the Health of Towns Association in 1839. By 1848 he served as a member of the new government department, then called the General Board of Health. He published reports on quarantine, cholera, yellow fever and the benefits of sanitary improvements.

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Q.� The government was helping

A.� The Poor Law Commission, created in 1834, explored problems of community health and suggested means for solving them.

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Sanitary surveys showed there was a link between disease and filth. Safeguarding public health was becoming the job of the engineer, rather than the doctor.

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The Public Health Act (1848) established a General Board of Health to advise local authorities on sanitary matters. It had the power to investigate sanitary conditions in particular districts.

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Q.�What was done about those graveyards

A.� In London, because of the immense population and mortality, most churchyards were closed by law in 1855. Several London cemeteries, including Highgate and Kensal Green, had been established by private enterprise earlier, but the Burial Act (1855) abolished burial within the limits of cities and towns almost everywhere and where it was still allowed, it was subject to stringent safeguards.

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Q. What else

A.� Since then, many acts have been passed to regulate sewage and rubbish disposal, the housing of animals, the water supply, prevention and control of disease, registration and inspection of private nursing homes and hospitals, the notification of births and the provision of maternity and child welfare services.

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By Steve Cunningham�