This theory about bad air vapors as the source of diseases came from the Middle Ages. Its viability as a theory remained strong for quite some time, as evidenced by the famous competition with the relatively new germ theory in the 19th century. For generations, the miasma theory held sway over medical circles. The airborne particles of rotting matter gave out a distinct putrid smell that according to experts was the cause of illnesses. Epidemics and pandemics like cholera and the bubonic plague were initially traced back to miasmatic theory. Image source: wikipedia.org The communicability of diseases was not generally acknowledged during those times since miasma theory proposed that the environment itself gave rise to the cause of such maladies. General pollution of water, air, and other dire hygienic circumstances were believed to be the underlying reasons for the progression of ailments within the locale. What is ultimately interesting with the miasma theory is that it enabled the pivotal sanitary reforms that would eventually revolutionize public health and the measures that would be put in place to prevent the spread of various diseases. After the improvements, the number of affected individuals dramatically dropped thus strengthening the theory’s validity. The world had to wait for the findings of the German bacteriologist Robert Koch before the germ theory officially replaced the old one. Contagionism increasingly dominated epidemiology research and studies in the remainder of the 19th century, giving weight to germ theory and its belief that specific microorganisms caused specific diseases by surviving and developing inside their hosts. Image source: wikipedia.org CaptainMartin Sanders, Ph.D, is an alumnus of the University of California, Davis, where he received his zoology degree in 1990. He finished his doctorate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1997. He is certified by the American Biological Safety Association as both a biological safety professional and a registered biosafety professional. To know more about the range of his professional work, visit this page.
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