Epidemiology defined
Epidemiology is the study of distribution and factors of disease occurrence in the human community and the treatment of this study to manage health issues. The information got on the basis of epidemiologic methods is widely adopted. William Farr is considered one of the modern founders of epidemiology from 1839 to 1880 (Aschengrau & Seage, 2008). In his teachings, he actively discussed the principles that should be used in the process of working up the indivisible statistic disease classification, highlighting the importance of epidemiology as a study on the level of worldwide medicine.
William Farr and statistical abstracts
The Statistical Abstracts for the General Registry Office were compiled by William Farr in 1839 through 1880 in the United Kingdom. William Farr was a self-taught mathematician and trained physician. Farr established a wide range of activities that contained modern epidemiology. William Farr defined the condition of health of the community. William Farr wanted to verify the determinants of community health (Aschengrau & Seage, 2008).
The knowledge Farr gained helped in managing and preventing disease in the human community. William Farr was in charge of the health of the population and the members of the public. William Farr had important calculations that combined registration information on marriages, births, and deaths. As he claimed,” The easy way to compare given number of deaths is by the given time” (Falvo, 2005). William Farr’s first annual report reflected, “Higher accuracy of numerical appearance” over mythical expressions. William Farr discovered that the average age of the English population remained relatively the same over the 26.4 years due to the number of males being less than that of their female counterparts (Falvo, 2005). These also reflected that majority of widowers had higher chances of getting married than that bachelors. Illegitimate birth rates declined over time due to lack of proper knowledge, thus resulting in higher deaths rates to people living at lower elevations than those leaving at higher elevations (Aschengrau & Seage, 2008).
Farr and causes and symptoms of diseases
The information that was gathered by Farr was used to create a hypothesis about the causes and preventions of diseases. An example used is when he collected information on smallpox deaths which reduced the number of deaths in 1860. Information on the association between deaths caused by cholera and altitude was used to support the hypothesis that unhealthful weather was the cause for the disease, and was later disapproved (Magnus, 2008).
He made practical and methodological support to the field of epidemiology. He was sure the information gathered was accurate and complete. The system he brought about is the International Classification of Disease that separates the disease and causes of deaths. During the mid-1800s, John Snow was another respectful figure in the discovery of the epidemiologic methods, a highly intelligent physician, and a successful anesthetist and researcher of anesthetic gases.
Farr and unhealthful cholera
The spread of cholera got him interested on how it was progressing (Aschengrau & Seage, 2008). Apparently, Farr thought bad weather led to unhealthful cholera, while Snow used this information to help innovative the hypothesis, fecal contamination of drinking water caused cholera. As Snow claimed, “Cholera is a poison reacting in the alimentary canal. Thus being brought directly in contact with the alimentary mucous surface, this leads to flux in the canal” (Falvo, 2005).
References
Aschengrau, A., & Seage, G. (2008). Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Falvo, R. D. (2005). Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Magnus, M. (2008). Essentials of Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Essential Public Health. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning