The Broad Street Pump

Pioneers in infection control: John Snow, Henry Whitehead, the Broad Street pump, and the beginnings of geographical epidemiology.

John Snow was one of the founders of epidemiology. Already convinced of the value of pure water, he analysed the distribution of cholera cases in the 1848 epidemic in relation to the purity of the water supply in London. His hypothesis that cholera was spread by contaminated water was tested by the 'Broad Street' epidemic of 1854. Snow quickly traced the water used in the houses affected by cho...

The Broad Street Pump

Remarks on the Outbreak of Cholera in Broad Street, Golden Square, London, in 1854

It is commonly supposed, and sometimes asserted even at meetings of Medical Societies, that the Broad Street outbreak of cholera in 1854 was arrested in mid-career by the closing of the pump in that street. That this is a mistake is sufficiently shown by the following table, which, though incomplete, proves that the outbreak had already reached its climax, and had been steadily on the decline f...

Preventing occupational cancer.

The classic episode in the history of disease prevention occurred in London in 1854 (1). There was an epidemic of cholera in the neighborhood around Broad Street. John Snow, the hero of the story, studied the habits of the victims and found that almost all obtained their water from the well on Broad Street. Swift action was taken; the pump was closed down and the epidemic rapidly subsided. This...

Street Garment Vendors’ Contribution to the Economy and Local Community: An Empirical Study to the Street Garments Vendors in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

The street garment vendors are playing a significant role in the fields of the economic development through protecting resources (garment products) from such a position where they are treated as wastes; very much less valued products and creating the opportunity for self-employment. This study aimed at showing the economic contribution and the impact of the street vendors to the local community...

The Broad Street pump revisited.

Smith C E [Department of Biometry, Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Avenue, Charleston S C 29425, USA]. The Broadstreet pump revisited. Internationa/Journal of Epidemiology 1982,11: 99-100. This historical note examines the effect of population migration on the number of fatal cholera cases reported by John Snow in the Golden Square area of London during the fall of 1854. A meth...