Demographic and social context of deaths during the 1854 cholera outbreak in Soho, London: a reappraisal of Dr John Snow's investigation.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Walford NS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7431402 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Demographic and social context of deaths during the 1854 cholera outbreak in Soho, London: a reappraisal of Dr John Snow's investigation.
Health & place 20200818
Deaths from cholera in Soho, London (late July to end of September 1854) exposed the epidemiology of the disease and demonstrated applied geospatial analysis by highlighting the shortest path principle followed by local residents when they obtained drinking water from a contaminated pump. The present investigation explores if households and individuals with different demographic and socio-economic characteristics were more or less likely to obtain their water from the pump and succumb to the dis ...[more]
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Project description:Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM) is a spatial analysis technique used to diagnose environmental conditions that lead to hazardous outcomes. Originally developed for applications to violent crime analysis, RTM is utilized here to analyze Dr. John Snow's data from the 1854 cholera outbreak in London to demonstrate its potential value to contemporary epidemiological investigations. Dr. Snow saved countless lives when he traced the source of the cholera outbreak to a specific water pump through inductive reasoning, which he communicated through maps and spatial evidence. His methods have since inspired several fields of scientific inquiry. Informed by the extant research on RTM, we speculated that it could have helped test Dr. Snow's hypothesis about cholera and empirically identified the sole source of contaminated well water. We learned that it could and, although it was not available to Dr. Snow in the 1800s, we discuss RTM's implications for present-day research and practice as it relates to the analysis, prevention and treatment of cholera and other public health threats around the world.
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Project description:Genomic analysis of Hainan cholera outbreak
| PRJEB8241 | ENA
Project description:Cholera was a major global scourge in the 19th century, with frequent large-scale epidemics in European cities primarily originating in the Indian subcontinent. John Snow conducted pioneering investigations on cholera epidemics in England and particularly in London in 1854 in which he demonstrated that contaminated water was the key source of the epidemics. His thorough investigation of an epidemic in the Soho district of London led to his conclusion that contaminated water from the Broad Street pump was the source of the disease and, consequently, the removal of the handle led to cessation of the epidemic. He further studied cholera in London homes that were receiving water from two water supply systems; one from the sewage contaminated portion of the Thames River and the other that drew its water upstream from an uncontaminated part of the river. Rates of infection among clients of the distribution system drawing contaminated water far exceeded the, rates among those served by the company whose water intake was from above the contaminated section of the river. This demonstration reinforced the goals of the sanitation movement, which developed sewage drainage systems and water purification systems in cities and towns in the following decades, therewith vastly reducing the threats of cholera, typhoid and many other waterborne diseases. Despite progress being made globally, the public health problems of waterborne disease, including cholera, are by no means gone today, even in high-income countries. The tragic introduction of cholera after the earthquake devastation in Haiti in 2010 resulted in many thousands of cases and deaths from cholera indicating the still-present dangers of diseases spread into disaster situations. Cholera and other waterborne diseases remain some of the heaviest burdens of disease and death in low-income countries, especially after natural disasters or warfare as in Yemen in 2017 and are continuing challenges for global health.
| S-EPMC7150208 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundCycling is an increasingly important mode of transport for environmental and health reasons. Cycling fatalities in London were previously investigated in 1994 using routinely collected data. Since then, there have been shifts in the modes of transport used, and in transport policies. We sought to replicate the previous work using data on cyclist deaths in London between 1992 and 2006, specifically investigating whether heavy goods vehicles continued to pose a threat.MethodsObservational study based on analysis of time series of police road casualties data, 1992 to 2006, in London, UK. The main outcome measures were cyclists killed in road traffic collisions. Poisson regression and chi-squared test for homogeneity were used to assess time effects. Travel flow data was then used to estimate annual fatality rates per 100,000 cyclists per kilometre.ResultsFrom 1992 to 2006 there was a mean of 16 cycling fatalities per year (range 8-21). 146 deaths (60%) were in inner London and 96 in outer London. There was no evidence for a decline over time (p = 0.7) other than a pronounced dip in 2004 when there were 8 fatalities. Freight vehicles were involved in 103 of 242 (43%) of all incidents and the vehicle was making a left turn in over half of these (53%). The fatality rate ranged from 20.5 deaths in 1992 to 11.1 deaths in 2006 per 100,000 estimated cyclists per kilometre (rate ratio 0.54, 95% confidence interval 0.28 to 1.03).ConclusionsThere is little evidence fatality rates have fallen. Freight vehicles over 3.5 tonnes continue to present a disproportionate threat; they should be removed from urban roads and more appropriate means of delivery of essential goods found.
| S-EPMC2992064 | biostudies-literature
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| S-EPMC3406840 | biostudies-other
Project description:A nationwide outbreak of Vibrio cholerae occurred in Ghana in 2014 with Accra, the nation's capital as the epi-center. The outbreak spread to the Brong Ahafo Region (BAR) which is geographically located in the middle of the country. In this region a review of data collected during the outbreak was carried out and analyzed descriptively to determine the hot spots and make recommendations for effective response to future outbreaks.A review of patient records and line lists of cases of cholera reported in all hospitals during the period of the outbreak (July-December 2014) was conducted. Hospitals used IDSR (Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system) standard case definitions to detect and report cases for management. The GPS coordinates of all districts and health facilities were collected and utilized in the construction of spot maps. We also obtained populations (denominators) from the BAR Health surveillance unit of the Ghana Health Service. All the data thus collected was analyzed descriptively and expressed as frequencies and rates.A total of 1035 cases were reported, 550 (53.4%) were males and the rest females. Their ages ranged from 1 to 95 years; (mean age of 28.2 ± 19.6 years). The most affected (23.5%) was the 20-29 year old age group. On the 30th July, 2014, a 26 year old male (recorded as the index case of the cholera outbreak in the Brong Ahafo region) with a history of travel from Accra reported to the Nkoranza district hospital with a history of symptoms suggestive of cholera. The reporting of cholera cases reached their peak (17.3%) in week 15 of the outbreak (this lasted 25 weeks). An overall attack rate of 71/100,000 population, and a case fatality rate of 2.4% was recorded in the region. Asutifi South district however recorded a case fatality of 9.1%, the highest amongst all the districts which recorded outbreaks. The majority of the cases reported in the region were from Atebubu-Amanten, Sene West, Pru, and Asunafo North districts with 31.1, 26.0, 18.2 and 9.9% respectively. Vibrio cholerae serotype O1 was isolated from rectal swabs/stool samples tested.Vibrio cholerae serotype O1 caused the cholera-outbreak in the Brong Ahafo Region and mainly affected young adult-males. The most affected districts were Atebubu-Amanten, Sene west, Pru (located in the eastern part of the region), and Asunafo North districts (located in the south west of the region). Case Fatality Rate was higher (2.4%) than the WHO recommended rate (<1%). Active district level public health education is recommended on prevention and effective response for future outbreaks of cholera.
| S-EPMC5553860 | biostudies-other
Project description:BACKGROUND:Although cholera has been present in Latin America since 1991, it had not been epidemic in Haiti for at least 100 years. Recently, however, there has been a severe outbreak of cholera in Haiti. METHODS:We used third-generation single-molecule real-time DNA sequencing to determine the genome sequences of 2 clinical Vibrio cholerae isolates from the current outbreak in Haiti, 1 strain that caused cholera in Latin America in 1991, and 2 strains isolated in South Asia in 2002 and 2008. Using primary sequence data, we compared the genomes of these 5 strains and a set of previously obtained partial genomic sequences of 23 diverse strains of V. cholerae to assess the likely origin of the cholera outbreak in Haiti. RESULTS:Both single-nucleotide variations and the presence and structure of hypervariable chromosomal elements indicate that there is a close relationship between the Haitian isolates and variant V. cholerae El Tor O1 strains isolated in Bangladesh in 2002 and 2008. In contrast, analysis of genomic variation of the Haitian isolates reveals a more distant relationship with circulating South American isolates. CONCLUSIONS:The Haitian epidemic is probably the result of the introduction, through human activity, of a V. cholerae strain from a distant geographic source. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.).
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Project description:From 1948 to 1954, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission conducted a study of pregnancy outcomes among births to atomic bomb survivors (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan) who had received radiation doses ranging from 0 Gy to near-lethal levels. Past reports (1956, 1981, and 1990) on the cohort did not identify significant associations of radiation exposure with untoward pregnancy outcomes, such as major congenital malformations, stillbirths, or neonatal deaths, individually or in aggregate. We reexamined the risk of major congenital malformations and perinatal deaths in the children of atomic bomb survivors (n = 71,603) using fully reconstructed data to minimize the potential for bias, using refined estimates of the gonadal dose from Dosimetry System 2002 and refined analytical methods for characterizing dose-response relationships. The analyses showed that parental exposure to radiation was associated with increased risk of major congenital malformations and perinatal death, but the estimates were imprecise for direct radiation effects, and most were not statistically significant. Nonetheless, the uniformly positive estimates for untoward pregnancy outcomes among children of both maternal and paternal survivors are useful for risk assessment purposes, although extending them to populations other than the atomic bomb survivors comes with uncertainty as to generalizability.
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Project description:Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by Vibrio cholerae and occurs as widespread epidemics in Africa. In 2005, there were 31,719 cholera cases, with 458 deaths in the Republic of Senegal. We retrospectively investigated the climate origin of the devastating floods in mid-August 2005, in the Dakar Region of Senegal and the subsequent outbreak of cholera along with the pattern of cholera outbreaks in three other regions of that country. We compared rainfall patterns between 2002 and 2005 and the relationship between the sea surface temperature (SST) gradient in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and precipitation over Senegal for 2005. Results showed a specific pattern of rainfall throughout the Dakar region during August, 2005, and the associated rainfall anomaly coincided with an exacerbation of the cholera epidemic. Comparison of rainfall and epidemiological patterns revealed that the temporal dynamics of precipitation, which was abrupt and heavy, was presumably the determining factor. Analysis of the SST gradient showed that the Atlantic Ocean SST variability in 2005 differed from that of 2002 to 2004, a result of a prominent Atlantic meridional mode. The influence of this intense precipitation on cholera transmission over a densely populated and crowded region was detectable for both Dakar and Thiès, Senegal. Thus, high resolution rainfall forecasts at subseasonal time scales should provide a way forward for an early warning system in Africa for cholera and, thereby, trigger epidemic preparedness. Clearly, attention must be paid to both natural and human induced environmental factors to devise appropriate action to prevent cholera and other waterborne disease epidemics in the region.
| S-EPMC3432123 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe risk of cholera outbreak remains high in Cameroon. This is because of the persistent cholera outbreaks in neighboring countries coupled with the poor hygiene and sanitation conditions in Cameroon. The objective of this study was to assess the readiness of health facilities to respond to cholera outbreak in four cholera-prone districts in Cameroon.MethodologyA cross-sectional study was conducted targeting all health facilities in four health districts, labeled as cholera hotspots in Cameroon in August 2016. Data collection was done by interview with a questionnaire and by observation regarding the availability of resources and materials for surveillance and case management, access to water, hygiene, and sanitation. Data analysis was descriptive with STATA 11.Principal findingsA total of 134 health facilities were evaluated, most of which (108/134[81%]) were urban facilities. The preparedness regarding surveillance was limited with 13 (50%) health facilities in the Far North and 22(20%) in the Littoral having cholera case definition guide. ORS for Case management was present in 8(31%) health facilities in the Far North and in 94(87%) facilities in the littoral. Less than half of the health facilities had a hand washing protocol and 7(5.1%) did not have any source of drinking water or relied on unimproved sources like lake. A total of 4(3.0%) health facilities, all in the Far North region, did not have a toilet.ConclusionsThe level of preparedness of health facilities in Cameroon for cholera outbreak response presents a lot of weaknesses. These are present in terms of lack of basic surveillance and case management materials and resources, low access to WaSH. If not addressed now, these facilities might not be able to play their role in case there is an outbreak and might even turn to be transmission milieus.
| S-EPMC6615310 | biostudies-literature