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John Snow (1813-1858) was an British physician and a leader in the adoption of Anaesthesia and medical Hygiene , and is often considered one of the fathers of Epidemiology for his work in tracing the source of a Cholera outbreak in Soho , Westminster, England in 1854 . EARLY LIFE John Snow was born on March 15 , 1813 in York, England . He was the first of nine children born to William and Francis Snow in their North Street home. His neighbourhood was one of the poorest in the city, and was always in danger of flooding because of its proximity to the River Ouse . His father worked in the local Coal yards that were constantly replenished from the Yorkshire coalfields via Barge s on the Ouse. Snow was baptised Anglican at the church of All Saints North Street. EDUCATION AND TRAINING Snow studied in York until the age of 14, when he was apprenticed to a Surgeon , William Hardcastle, in Newcastle-on-Tyne . He later worked as a colliery surgeon. In October 1836 he enrolled as a student at the Hunterian school of medicine in Great Windmill Street, London ; a year later, he began working at the Westminster Hospital, being admitted a member of the Royal College Of Surgeons Of England on 2 May 1838 . He graduated from the University Of London in December 1844 , and was admitted to the Royal College Of Physicians in 1850 . CHOLERA Snow was a believer in the Germ Theory of Cholera , as opposed to the then-dominant Miasma Theory . He first publicised his theory in an essay ''On the Mode of Communication of Cholera'' in 1849 . In 1855 a second edition was published, with a much more elaborate investigation of the effect of the water-supply in the Soho , London epidemic of 1854 . By talking to local residents he identified the cause of the outbreak as the public water Pump on Broad Street (now Broadwick Street ), and it was disabled by removing the pump handle. Although this action has been popularly reported as ending the outbreak, the epidemic was already in rapid decline, as explained by Snow himself:
Snow later used a spot map to illustrate how cases of cholera were centred around the pump. He also made a solid use of Statistics to illustrate the connection between the quality of the source of water and cholera cases. He showed that companies taking water from Sewage - Polluted sections of the Thames delivered water to homes with an increased incidence of cholera. Snow's study was a major event in the History of Public Health , and can be regarded as the founding event of the Science of Epidemiology . In Snow's own words (in a letter to the Editor of the ''Medical Times and Gazette''):
MEMORIALS There is a plaque commemorating John Snow and his 1854 study in the place of the water pump on Broad Street (now Broadwick Street) with a water pump with its handle removed, near what is now the John Snow Public House . The spot where the pump stood is covered with red Granite . Snow died unmarried on 16 June 1858 , and was buried in Brompton Cemetery . In York, there is a Blue Plaque to Snow on the west end of the Moat House Hotel in North Street. John Snow was voted in a poll of British doctors in 2003 as the greatest Physician of all time. Snow gives his name to John Snow College , founded in 2001 on the University Of Durham 's Queen's Campus in Stockton-on-Tees . Snow is one of the heraldic Supporters of the Royal College Of Anaesthetists . REFERENCES
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