Origin John Snows 1854 mapping of a London cholera outbreak to a contaminated Broad Street water pump is widely treated as the founding demonstration of epidemiological method, though population-level disease observation predates it.
Epidemiology is the study of how disease and health outcomes are distributed across populations and the factors that influence that distribution. John Snows 1854 investigation of a cholera outbreak around a Broad Street water pump in London, tracing the disease to contaminated water rather than bad air, is widely cited as a founding demonstration of its method. This atlas records what the historical record supports and is not medical advice.
Facts
Origin PeriodJohn Snows 1854 mapping of a London cholera outbreak to a contaminated Broad Street water pump is widely treated as the founding demonstration of epidemiological method, though population-level disease observation predates it. 2 Classification
Type/ClassificationPublic Health Specialty 1 Epidemiology
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Associated With
Preventive medicine draws on epidemiologic methods
Notable Specialists
The founding and ongoing core mandate of the CDC is disease surveillance and epidemiological control.
Source WikipediaWikipedia contributors
Jenner's vaccination work is foundational to the epidemiological control of infectious disease, though he practiced as a rural general physician.
Source WikipediaWikipedia contributors
Her statistical analysis of Crimean War hospital mortality, including her polar area diagrams, is credited as an early and influential contribution to public health statistics and epidemiological method.
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
His treatise Airs, Waters, and Places, correlating disease with environment and season, is widely cited as a foundational text for epidemiological thinking.
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
The NHS's founding principle of comprehensive, universal care rests on a population health mandate central to epidemiology as a discipline.
Source WikipediaWikipedia contributors
The institute's founding mission was infectious disease research and vaccination, establishing microbiology and epidemiology as institutional disciplines.
Source Institut Pasteur: History
Source History of the Robert Koch Institute
Source History of the Robert Koch Institute
The WHO's founding and ongoing core mandate is international disease surveillance and epidemiological coordination.
Source WikipediaWikipedia contributors
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Epidemiology (Wikipedia)
Lead section, sentences 1-2Quote, Lead section, sentences 1-2
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent diseases. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidence-based practice by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive healthcare.
2. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation- Notable Specialists: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Notable Specialists: National Health Service
- Notable Specialists: World Health Organization
- Notable Specialists: Edward Jenner
View the Source Institut Pasteur: History
History of the Robert Koch Institute
Robert Koch Institute- Notable Specialists: Robert Koch Institute
- Notable Specialists: Robert Koch
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
What does epidemiology study?
How disease is distributed across populations and why.
Epidemiology studies how disease and health outcomes are distributed across populations and the factors that influence that distribution.
Which investigation is cited as a founding demonstration of epidemiology?
John Snow's 1854 Broad Street cholera investigation.
John Snow's 1854 investigation of a cholera outbreak around a Broad Street water pump in London is widely cited as a founding demonstration of the method. He traced the disease to contaminated water rather than bad air.
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