Public Health in 1665 :: Public Health Care Essays

Ring around a roses,A pocket full of Poses,A tissueA tissueWe each(prenominal) fall downEven today, children innocently chant this old(a) greenhouse rhyme, bringing the old axiom into reality, Ignorance is Bliss. Its eerie, to think that this old rhyme in fact gives a perfect description of ace of Europes worst nightmares, the Great Plague. Many the great unwashed swallow the horrors of the Plague, and when they do remember and think about it, Public heath is seldom a factor that plays a big part when people bulk to think things through.There were quite a few public wellness measuring sticks in 1665 the time of the chevvy. However, how many of these measures worked? An important fact to remember is that in those times, opinions and actions were either based on or blamed on piety and superstition. For example, people started marching across the country, punishing themselves on the basis that the plague was the result of all of mans sin, whilst trying to persuade people of their cause. Also, charms were used by some cultures, such as the Abra Kadabra charm, which was either carved, or worn as protective jewellery to ward off the slimy spirits causing the plague. It looked similar to the image below.A B R A K A D A B R AB R A K A D A B RR A K A D A BA K A D AK A DAOne measure they had was that of the red cross. This is where they would paint a red cross on the doors of people who were diagnosed with the plague. I think this would have worked because it would let people eff who had the plague, so that they could avoid falling ill themselves. A law was made, saying that once someone was ill with the plague they were to stay in their house. Anyone who happened to go bad in the same house as the unfortunate soul was as well as locked in, with fear that they could spread the disease. Beggars were not allowed to wonder the streets at anytime, and were executed straight off for doing so without a given reason. All of these, although sensible ideas (apart from the execution..) would not ease up towards public health, as the disease was not contagious in the world community. It was in fact passed on from fleas living on black rats, further this knowledge had not yet been developed.