23-July-2023

A few days ago, I took an online course offered by Harvard University, to strengthen my knowledge in Public Health. This course was about one of the first discoveries that led to Epidemiology. It taught me about John Snow and the Cholera Outbreak. This was a true eye-opener, and it helped me gain more information on this epidemic back in 1854. This happened in London, England, and back then, the place sure was filthy. Human waste was collected and dumped into cesspools, which later was just shoveled into the streets nearby. John Snow later did deep research and conducted many investigations to figure out why this epidemic had started. He eventually dug up the real reason for the disease. There was a water pump in the area, known as the Broad Street pump, that everyone in the area used for water sources. The water in that pump was contaminated by all the waste from the cesspools, which caused an outbreak of Cholera. John Snow continued to study the epidemic, and identify its characteristics. His analysis led to more people researching similar experiences. People saw this as the study of epidemics, hence the reason for the name Epidemiology. This course gave me a lot of details and resources to really look into this event, using videos and articles to open my mind. I had a great learning experience, and I hope I can learn more about things like this.