I always teach my students that John Snow, good epidemiologist and public health person that he was, removed the pump handle after the highest point of incidence, so ensuring that the outbreak fell away when he removed the handle.
Norman Vetter
Dr Norman J Vetter
Department of Epidemiology
cardiff University
Heath Park Campus
Cardiff, CF14 4XN
UK
Tel: +44 (0)29 20 742311
+44 (0)29 20 742318
Fax: +44 (0)29 20 742898
Web: www.normanvetter.com
>>> Rakesh Biswas <[log in to unmask]> 07/12/2005 04:48:11 >>>
Found this while preparing for a lecture class on cholera. Wish we had
a way of handling statistical data like John Snow where the data was
more visible. Rakesh
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/bbc_snow.htm
What is important about John Snow is his recognition of the power of
statistics. He didn't know what the organism was that caused Cholera,
so instead he gathered what might have been thought of as 'anecdotal'
evidence - stories. But the cumulative effect of his meticulously
gathered data was devastating - and was the beginning of the end for
Cholera in Britain.
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