Blog Posts
Water - you know something, John Snow
Public health classes often begin with the London cholera outbreaks of 1850s and the contributions of one of the founders of modern epidemiology, John Snow. Not that John Snow... less swords, more sideburns.
Most people in the 1850s had never heard of germ theory - aka the knowledge that itty bitty living things like bacteria and viruses are on the surface of everything we touch - and scientists like Louis Pasteur were still in the process of testing the theory.
[Side note: John Snow lived in England, and often the history of sciences are very eurocentric. But I am not aware of germ theory gaining acceptance anywhere in the world at that time.]
So what did life feel like without that knowledge? Living in Asheville, NC just after Hurricane Helene, I'm getting to dip a toe in that water (forgive the terrible pun).
The water coming out of my tap is mostly clear, with a little faint tint to it if I fill up a clear glass. But nothing that I would immediately notice as unsafe from the tap. And this is actually a problem! I have to be vigilant in remembering that the pipes that miraculously deliver that water to me - inside my house! with no effort on my part! - is actually still potentially contaminated.
Germs live in the dirt, and small cracks in the pipelines between the water treatment plant and my house means that those germs could be in my cold glass of water after a walk with my dog. They could be in my shower. They could get into my food before I cook it.
If I swallowed those germs, they could give me diarrhea. And not just a little bit. Cholera is so irritating to the gut lining that your body evacuates EVERYTHING inside you.
Literally pooping to death.
The phrase is funny now-a-days, and that's great. Because it means we don't have a real picture of it in our heads. We don't see that any more, at least in the places I've been lucky enough to live. The reality of it is terrifying. Cholera can kill you in hours.
And now Asheville has that risk.
Have you heard the phrase, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Right now, it's hard for me to remember to bring all water that goes in my mouth to a rolling boil for at least 60 seconds. That is burdensome. Difficult to do.
But it's so so so much easier than being tied to a toilet, with the worst stomach cramps imaginable. Not being able to keep any food inside me. Still needing to drink water, but being super weak. Boiling water just got much harder!
And I'm lucky enough to have access to an Emergency Department who will give me IV fluids and save my life. IV fluids weren't an option for John Snow. He had some versions of oral rehydration solutions (aka Pedialyte and Gatorade). And they often didn't taste that great. No Grape. No Fruit Punch. Definitely no Glacier Freeze.
But the big thing he came up with was keep the poop away from the water supply. Seems laughably simple, but it was literally revolutionary at the time. What does that translate to now? WASH YOUR HANDS.
So much of public health in daily life is making sure your habits are helping to protect you, instead of leaving you exposed. I'm lucky enough to have modern plumbing, electricity, and soap with no thought or effort on my part. All I have to do for my ounce of prevention is keep up my handwashing and mindfully practice my new habit of boiling water.
TL;DR - wash your hands and thank John Snow for your plumbing.