GCSE History (Edexcel)

Topic Summaries

Industrial medicine

Cholera (1831–1866)

  • Repeated outbreaks of cholera were a major killer in industrial Britain due to contaminated water supplies.
  • It was a fatal disease that caused diarrhoea and vomiting and was nicknamed ‘The Blue Death’ because extreme dehydration would result in the patient’s skin turning grey/blue.
Beliefs about causes Prevention methods Treatments Consequences
  • Miasma
  • Divine punishment
  • Contagion (though waterborne transmission was not well understood)
  • Cleaning streets and removing waste
  • Avoiding crowds 
  • Smelling vinegar cloths
  • Bloodletting
  • Purging
  • Opiates
  • Herbal remedies
  • Quarantine and isolation (not effective since it was waterborne)
  • Tens of thousands of deaths
  • Public health reforms to improve clean water and sanitation systems

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