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For hundreds of years,
cholera has been a very deadly disease. At that time, scientists did not
know the exact cause of cholera. Until finally, John Snow, a doctor
from England, proved that cholera is transmitted from dirty water. He
researched the London cholera epidemic in the 1850s, which concluded
that it occurred when wastewater entered freshwater reserves. So that
people who run out of water in their homes are forced to take
contaminated water reserves.
Apart from John Snow, other
scientists such as Louis Pasteur also believed that bacteria in dirty
water can cause disease. But unfortunately, there are still many people
who drink water from rivers that have been contaminated with waste. This
results in a very rapid and deadly spread of the disease. Until 1883, a
German scientist, namely Robert Koch. Managed to find the bacteria that
cause cholera. And this is the first step towards saving mankind.
As for what is called cholera is a deadly disease that spreads quickly
if a person drinks dirty water that contains cholera bacteria. Victims
who suffer from cholera will experience diarrhea and vomiting. So that
he will lose a lot of fluids in his body which will result in death if
the patient does not drink clean water. Currently, medical drugs can
cure cholera.
Max von Pettenkofer experiment
When
scientists estimate the source of cholera is dirty water. A German
scientist named Max von Pettenkofer strongly objected to this. He
believed that the source of his illness was bad air. She firmly believed
in her opinion and was determined to prove Robert Koch wrong about
cholera.
What Max von Pettenkofer did to prove his point was
to conduct dangerous experiments. In 1892, he experimented with drinking
dirty water containing the cholera bacteria. He wanted to prove that
bacteria do not cause disease. The first day after the experiment,
nothing happened to him. On the third day she felt a little nauseous but
who knows what happened in the following days she was healthy again and
safe.
No one knows how Max von Pettenkofer survived his
experiments. But what happened next, he was booed by many people. He was
deemed to have taken an insignificant risk, and no one took his words
seriously anymore. He also died in 1901 of suicide.