Epidemics In The 19th Century

Epidemics such as infection and disease were a huge contributor to the many deaths in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Diseases spread like wildfire throughout the United States with no intentions of stopping. However, the introduction of a procedure called sterilization quickly led to the downward spiral of disease and infection. Since sterilization was invented diseases were less likely to be contracted and the immune system became stronger than ever. Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, and Robert Koch were the major scientists who helped with the making of these improvements in the medical field. Joseph Lister believes that there was dyer need for a decontaminated and sterile operating room when preforming any type of procedure with a patient. Due to this belief he created a technique using

The germ theory stated that a specific organism caused a certain disease. Before the theory was created many doctors believed that diseases were simply created by unplanned formation and there was not a serious cause of this formation. It just simply happened. This discovery led to aseptic techniques to be used worldwide. Because diseases spread so quickly within a small period of time, vaccination became even more crucial to the survival of humans.

One of the major diseases that spread extremely quickly throughout the nation was Tuberculous. Tuberculous became the known as the “master disease.” Because of Pasteur’s and Koch’s discovery of the germ theory, vaccinations from TB were eradicated. The spread of Tuberculous helped the fame of the germ theory in means of exposer.

Without the sterilization process established by Joseph Lister and the germ theory of disease by Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, infectious diseases would have been easily spread far more quickly and also longer than they had before. These inventions made the way for a better hospital environment and cleaner operating