Class Differences And Prejudices In The Ghost Map By Steven Johnson

The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson is a true story of a terrifying outbreak of cholera and how Dr. John Snow and reverend Henry Whitehead used their knowledge of the disease to find out how prevalent it was over the whole city of London. The disease was common to the millions of poor people around the country, whose living conditions and sanitation processes were not as good and advanced as wealthy people. The story reflects the world through a wide variety of disciplines, including history, science and culture. During the Victorian era of 19th century, England’s class distinctions and prejudices affected people’s understanding of “bad science” behind the cholera through “miasma theory,” which led them to make changes in the metropolitican cities

and societies, and people’s belief in “epidemiology.”
The Ghost Map is “a wonderful illustration of how science and public policy interplay” (Kruse). The uncertainty of the disease could be discovered through predictable patterns that made the polluting actions detectable for the invisible bacteria within the urban population of London. Due to urbanization, “the poor lived in the cities’ unsanitary areas where disease and epidemics were more prevalent” and they were blamed for the spread of the disease (Kruse). The medical curriculum of today focuses heavily on cleanliness and highlights the importance of having “healthy sanitary practices” in place. According to the Air Borne Disease Control, the process of filtration, an example of a healthy sanitary practice removes airborne particles such as bacteria and allergens that are spread through the air from person to person (Hsu). London’s “miasma theory” is an example of an airborne disease.
“Miasma theory” is the theory of impure air in which the disease (cholera in London) spreading through the air, which was a “bad science” as described in John Snow’s book The Ghost Map (An Introduction to Infectious Disease). In order to find out the cause of the disease, we have to take our most educated guesses and do research on them. Today, we use the same approach but, because we have technologies it is faster and we get more accurate results. So, Snow did the same thing, first he thought that disease is spreading through the air, “miasma theory.” However, John Snow did not believe in “miasma theory” for the spread of cholera. He believed that it never existed so, he started interviewing people of London’s Broad Street, where the disease was most predominant, to figure out what actually caused the disease. After interviewing people of Broad Street, he found out that there was a higher death rate in the household who drank water from the pump of the street had. He organized the removal of the water pump which helped to slow down the spread and eventually the outbreak of the disease.
The production of contagious vapors from the waste and odors “dovetailed nicely with prejudices society had about the irresponsible poor and their living habits” (Kruse).

People in the 19th century had cultural and social anxiety about poor people spreading the disease. It could be some other circumstances or factors like Viruses, bacteria and water causing the disease and affected the poor more than wealthy, but not specifically because of their cultural identity or class in the society. This misunderstanding for the spread of cholera through poor people was a “bad science”. This social anxiety or belief in “bad science” has not disappeared yet. Even though, we are so advanced in science and technology today, majority of us blame poor people for the cause and the spread of the disease most of the time. Further, to stop or eliminate spread of the disease, we have to do some changes in our environment or in our living habits to see if that helps. So, for the primary concern of infectious disease, the government of London allocated money to clean up the rivers, as well as installed water sewage system that would bring in fresh water and take out the waste water. It actually improved the water quality (Kruse). Following the addition of the water sewage system, the spread of the disease was expected to stop, however, the disease continued to spread. The continued spread of the disease after the addition of the sewage system provided evidence to the people of London to help support “miasma theory.” The “miasma theory” describes a vapor causing disease that is transmitted through bacteria and viruses, is an example of “selective observation.” “Selective observation” is the narrowing down of research and the gaining of the particular conclusion. The process of “selective observation” was time consuming before 19th century; however, even it caused too much loss, we still use it today but, it may be much faster due to advanced

technologies.
The process of selective observation led to make improvements in the condition of the cities. Snow proposed actions to stop the spread of illness by eliminating the city's misuse of the river. That acknowledgment alone changed urban life, driving city pioneers to pay considerably more attention to the water source and the transfer of the waste. Snow's work created an understanding for "a standout amongst the most goal-oriented building tasks of the nineteenth century" includes building safety and healthy sanitary processes in buildings and public places (Gobble). Eventually, it began new era of urbanization. So, by clarifying the issues of unsanitary, “metropolitan living could be uncovered, comprehended, and overseen from multiple points of view” which made the current city (Gobble).
As we think about today, we still find the cause and the effect of the disease by the process of “selective observation.” For example, Ebola disease is caused by the Ebola virus, which can spread through direct contact and through coughing and sneezing, and the most recent outbreak compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was caused by the bacteria salmonella and Listeria in sprouts and cheese (An Introduction to Infectious Disease). Infectious disease caused by the microorganisms too small to be seen by the natural eyes’ of human. In contrast, other diseases like Cancer and heart diseases are caused by some combination of genetics, and other environmental factors and lifestyle.
The spread of this disease has shown us that infectious diseases are still a major threat because of the increasing amount of global travel and lack of new drugs. Outbreaks of diseases aware people for the disease cure so, people today are more careful when choosing diets for their health. Today, people have more common knowledge of disease prevention, and how they can take care of themselves. Some ways of general cure includes staying at home when sick, taking drugs properly, and getting an appropriate vaccination on time to protect themselves and others. Today, we have vaccination many diseases that we get after the born for the cure of the disease in advanced which we did not have before 19th century.
Today, we know that cholera spread via infectious bacteria vibrio cholerae which 19th century Londoners developed from contaminated food and water (An Introduction to Infectious Disease). This is strong evidence and science behind the cause for the disease and not to believe in “Epidemiology.” In today’s developed countries, because of improved hygiene and sewage system cholera is not a major problem but, other infectious diseases are still the source for most epidemics and outbreaks.
Epidemiology is “the study of the distribution and determinants of health problems in specified population and the application of this study to control health problems” (Excellence in Curriculum Innovation through Teaching Epidemiology). If the outbreak happens, we have to find out the spread and predominality of the disease to control it like John Snow did as described in the book The Ghost Map by using Epidemiology. Finding the cause for the spread of cholera was similar to today’s problem of finding a cause for the spread of HIV AIDS. Because, today, we know that AIDS spread through HIV (Human Immune Deficiency syndrome) virus, but we didn’t know about it earlier and caused many casualties. The same way, Cholera was erupted in London and killed few hundred of individuals consistently before the cause was known. But, Snow's work had significant, long-running outcomes for London as well as for the way we view urban areas and general well-being even today.
Everything happens has good and bad effects of it because it cost you someway and also benefits you at the same time. For example, Londoners achieved a good solution of cleanliness through false understanding of the disease cholera. It can be similar to our current problem of CO2 causing global warming. We spend millions of dollars to stop the CO2 production because first we thought that CO2 is the main that creating the problem of global warming. But, it is not just CO2 but some other gases like methane, vehicle fuels and our misuse of resources also, affecting the problem of Global warming (Pantaleo). However, it encourage us to invent new thing to stop CO2 production such as, an invention of the electric car, and use of natural gases like bio gas and biomass, use of solar lights create a solar channel, power and thermal energy (Pantaleo). It is also beneficial for our next generation because we are saving all the resources which are very less to use for our future generation. In comparison to people in London, who had false understanding of Miasma theory that vapor caused the disease, but they weren’t completely wrong either because it was bacteria and viruses in the air which caused the disease. This actually changed urban areas and general well-being of London.
To conclude, it could be said that Snow and Whitehead’s cholera research led to the beginning of a new era of public health and was one of the defining moments of modern life. Their combined research resulted in many changes like building of a new sewage system for London. The difference this time was that the changes were made due to scientific research with data to prove it. The outbreak of London made people believe much further than Social and cultural anxieties of “bad science” and “epidemiology”. Eventually, the cure for the disease led to the modern world’s facilities and advanced technologies of ventilating rooms and evacuating sewages of vaporous matter.