Sanitation and Lack Thereof

Cities grew along with the Industrial Revolution and with them grew another problem: increasingly unsanitary living conditions in them. The growth of factories and industry meant that more and more people were living in cities. Naturally, these places became a hotbed for infection. People simply did not know the cause of disease in the early 1800s and as such did not take certain measures to prevent it, such as sewer systems and promotion of cleanliness. However, attitudes began to change as the problem grew to such a level that it could not be ignored.

One prime example of these changing times was London. It had grown from a town of one million to six million people over the course of the nineteenth century, and as such its lack of infrastructure began to show. Epidemics of cholera, typhus, and influenza were common without knowledge of how they spread or how to prevent them, let alone treat them. For example, in 1839, it was estimated that for every one person who died of old age or violence, eight died from disease caused by lack of sanitation. This problem particularly affected the lower working class, as they had to live quite literally in the worst of it. It is estimated the average age of laborers, mechanics, and servants at death was around fifteen. 

Edward Chadwick decided to help the British government to alleviate the problems caused by this lack of sanitation. In 1842, he wrote Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population which suggested the creation of a sewer system to remove waste from the streets. Finally, the Public Health Act was passed by Parliament in 1848 which allowed local towns to combat the disgusting conditions without permission from Parliament, which was incredibly difficult to obtain. This along with the creation of sewer systems ushered in an era aimed at better understanding and combating the filth.

Louis Pasteur

As mentioned earlier, people did not really understand what caused disease or how it spread. This began to change thanks to the work of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister. Pasteur developed the idea of germ theory, that is that infections were caused by living organisms, not by bad odors as miasmatic theory suggested. His new idea allowed him to create pasteurization, which is the elimination of disease causing organisms in a beverage by heating it. 

Joseph Lister

Lister was famous for developing antiseptic procedures that made surgeries much more successful. Before Lister, doctors did not pay particular attention to the cleanliness of wounds, the operating room or their instruments.

The advances in sanitation and knowledge of how diseases spread resulted in the improvement of the methods to counteract them. In fact, by 1910 the death rates for people in urban areas were generally no greater than those for people in rural areas.