The History and Pioneers of Epidemiology Quiz

The History and Pioneers of Epidemiology

• Epidemiology originated from physicians who sought to understand how to prevent disease by identifying patterns in disease occurrence.
• The germ theory of disease, proposed by Girolamo Fracastoro in 1546, was in competition with other theories, such as the miasma hypothesis, for many years.
• The transition to acceptance of the germ theory during the 19th century provided a solid mechanistic grounding to the study of disease patterns.
• John Snow is known as the father of epidemiology for determining the source of the 1854 Broad Street cholera epidemic in London.
• Snow proposed that cholera was spread through a fecal-oral route of transmission and that a microbe was the infectious agent.
• Snow identified the source of water for those infected with cholera and found a high frequency of cases among individuals who obtained their water from the River Thames downstream from London.
• Snow also mapped the incidence of cholera and found a high frequency among those using a particular water pump located on Broad Street.
• Snow’s work resulted in the first known public health response to an epidemic and shed light on unsanitary sewage practices and the effects of waste dumping in the Thames.
• Snow’s work illustrated common source spread of infectious disease, in which there is a single source for all of the individuals infected.
• Types of common source spread include point source spread, continuous common source spread, and intermittent common source spread.
• In contrast to common source spread, propagated spread occurs through direct or indirect person-to-person contact.
• Propagated spread typically results in longer duration outbreaks that can vary from small to large, depending on the population and the disease.