Snow And Nightingale: A Thematic Analysis

Polymyelitis, otherwise known as polio, was one of the most feared diseases of the early to mid twentieth century. This disease either killed or it paralyzed its’ victims. This affected America in such a terrible way by killing or paralyzing thousands of them within the beginning of the twentieth century alone, scaring most other Americans and putting up a red flag for most health organizations. President Roosevelt, however, conceived the idea of initiating the charity that would later

-The germ theory led to the creation of vaccines, anti-toxins, antibiotics, and the development of laboratory-based pharmacology to help patients to get healthy.

Polio an American story is a scholarly readable and informative book which covers the lives of many American eminent scientists who struggled a lot to eradicate polio. This book mainly focuses on the mid twentieth century where the people are very eager to find a vaccine to eradicate polio .This book also covers the entire topics from appearance of polio symptoms to post polio syndrome which shows the valuable thesis done by David M. Oshinsky.

“Louis Pasteur – Germ Theory of Disease” Inventors About. Com. 2014. Retrieved on January 13 2014 from Biography.com: http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventors/a/Louis_Pasteur.htm

(Starr.) Germ theory or “filth theory”, as coined by Charles V. Chaplin, was established in order to help define how environmental health impacts infection was transmitted. Personal hygiene and modern sanitary science became radically popular outlook in the early 19th century that helped aid and control diseases like tuberculosis and veneral disease, improving the health of infant, and other health problems. This growing emphasis created the need for individual health

The germ theory was proposed by Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur in the 1870s, on the basis that microorganisms were the cause of many diseases.

Polio is a deadly virus that hit america in the 1930s (Franklin Roosevelt founds...N.P.). Franklin Roosevelt founds March of Dimes Polio is also known to be a crippling disease, which affected Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the age of 39. But, on January the third he created a foundation for a cure for polio called March of Dimes(Franklin Roosevelt founds March of Dimes N.P.).10 years later he created a foundation,Warm Springs Foundation, which focus entirely on the treatment of people with polio(Franklin Roosevelt founds March of Dimes N.P.). In 1934, a business, Henry Doherty donated $25,000 to establish a series of birthday balls(Franklin Roosevelt founds March of Dimes N.P.). In the first year they raised 1 million dollars off

Many scientists say that several people saw his great idea and followed him on the way to discovery, but others opposed it. One of the followers was Louis Pasteur who seems to get most of the credit for the start of the germ theory. Pasteur was a French microbiologists and a dedicated man

One strategy they have taken is to use government provisions. Because the benefit to society was very large, providing free vaccines to all was one way the government helped with the spillover benefits of positive externalities. In order to eradicate the polio virus, the government provided free vaccines to the public (McConnell). Due to the help of this government provision, the United States has been able to eradicate the polio virus within its borders. The Pan American Health Organization was able to declare the Americas free of the polio virus in August of 1994, after the last case of the virus was reported in 1991 (“History of

Louis Pasteur was a very curious man that is recognized as the founder of the term germ and many advances in the medical field. Pasteur wanted to prove a theory he had about immunity in which he asked questions about the potential success or failure and the reason why some people or animals didn't get as sick as others. These questions lead to his theory about early exposure to a weakened bacteria and the strength of the immune system within an organism. He decided to perform an experiment on sheep in which he gave a “vaccine” to a certain number of them and didn't give it to some others. Later he went back and exposed all off them to a stronger bacteria which killed the ones that weren't given the vaccinations. This discovery is the basis

In 1988, 350,000 cases of polio, an incurable virus that can cause permanent paralysis or death, were reported. In 2014, only 359 cases were reported (“Poliomyelitis”). The reason for this dramatic decline in cases was a global initiative to vaccinate children and eradicate the virus. No longer did parents have to warn their children away from crowded areas or swimming pools for fear of their child contracting polio. However, as the relief faded and polio became little more than a historical relic, a new movement gained traction. People started focusing more on the possible dangers of vaccines than on their numerous advantages. It culminated in an “anti-vaccination” movement, and ever since science and advocates have been fighting over the issue. Vaccines have since been studied closely for years, and a myriad of investigations have proven that vaccinations are crucial. Every person should receive necessary immunizations because they protect people from dying of preventable diseases, their benefits far outweigh the risks, and vaccinated people protect all members of their community, especially those who cannot receive vaccinations.

Louis Pasteur graduated in 1847 with a doctorate degree in chemistry and physics. He was asked to study the question, “could contamination that occurred during the fermentation, possibly prevent the development of good alcohol?” Louis visited factories where alcohol was made, took samples, and did studies. The conclusion he found was the yeast used in the fermentation process was a living organism and could cause the alcohol to turn bad. Through this discovery Louis found that germs are in living things. He helped solve many problems, including a disease that was found in Silk worms, chicken cholera, and rabies. Louis was involved in many studies involving germ theory that helped explain all infectious diseases. He was introduced to Joseph

John Snow came to believe that Cholera came from the water. (Snow, 1849) o 1876- Robert Koch determined that Anthrax was caused by bacteria. (Science Museum, 2014) o Koch also developed guidelines to help identify pathogens that came to be known as the Koch Postulates.

Polio soon became one of the most occurring childhood diseases in the 20th century. Proper hygiene and sanitation decreased the prevalence of this disease in young children which are likely to

The purpose of the chapter is to provide the readers with some background information. Along with this, it also shows how panic overtook the American communities. The uncertainty of what the virus was or where it came from caused a paranoia in many cities. The initial reaction was to quarantine victims and keep them away from the general public. The spread of the epidemic from northern states to Texas is accredited, according to Wooten, by the mass immigration into Texas by residents of other states during the oil industry’s boom in Texas in the early twentieth century. This exposed many people to polio as they moved into cities and the coastal area of Texas became more and more urbanized. The high standards of American hygene made polio a death threat. The body did not have the ability of fighting a small dose of the disease as new born did when hygene in the country was not so clean. By not being exposed to the virus the body did not produce the adequate antibodies to fight it off. When it struck at a later age the body was defenseless and so the epidemic started. The result of the urbanization of Texas and the many polio outbreaks helped the area create many hospitals and lead the fight against polio.