Contagionism Versus Miasmatism
Throughout the 19th Century, the medical community was divided on the explanation for disease proliferation. On one side were the contagionists, believing disease was passed through physical contact, while others believed disease was present in the air in the form of Miasma, and thus could proliferate without physical contact. Two members of the latter group were Dr. Thomas S. Smith and Florence Nightingale.
Dr. Thomas Southwood Smith spent many years comparing the Miasmatic theory to Contagionism.
| “ | To assume the method of propagation by touch, whether by the person or of infected articles, and to overlook that by the corruption of the air, is at once to increase the real danger, from exposure to noxious effluvia, and to divert attention from the true means of remedy and prevention. | ” |
Florence Nightingale:
| “ | The idea of "contagion", as explaining the spread of disease, appears to have been adopted at a time when, from the neglect of sanitary arrangements, epidemics attacked whole masses of people, and when men had ceased to consider that nature had any laws for her guidance. Beginning with the poets and historians, the word finally made its way into scientific nomenclature, where it has remained ever since. . .a satisfactory explanation for pestilence and an adequate excuse for non-exertion to prevent its recurrence. | ” |
The current germ theory accounts for disease proliferation by both physical and non-physical contact.
Read more about this topic: Miasma Theory