Resource Pack : Illness, Death and Disaster

School Sick Room

Because living and working conditions were so poor in the nineteenth century disease and accidents were common. Cholera, which was caught by drinking water polluted with sewage, was probably the worst disease of the time. In 1848 alone it killed 50,000 people and children were particularly vulnerable. However, once the cause of the disease was known, efforts were made to improve sanitation and it gradually declined. And the Victorian age witnessed some notable medical breakthroughs. Anaesthetics became more common and were publicized when Queen Victoria was given chloroform during the birth of her son in 1853. Much work was done to improve hygiene in hospitals in the Crimean War and in 1869 Joseph Lister invented an antiseptic spray to kill bacteria. In 1853 a compulsory vaccination for children against smallpox was introduced and today that disease is unknown within Europe.

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