Question

What are similarities and differences in the way a public health professional would follow a disease outbreak in the 21st. century compared to the way Snow followed cholera

Answer 1

Snow is considered as father of epidemiology. He discovered that cholera is spread through contaminated water and not through air.

Snow collected the data for his research by going from door to door surveying the people through simple questionnaire Now a days too researchers conduct door to door survey. But along with simple questionnaire, blood sample collection and body scans can also be taken.

The study design was neat and statistically simple which is similar thing found in modern research as well.

Snow also conducted study on different groups to study the waterborne transmission of cholera same as researchers study sample group today. But an informed consent is necessary now.

The statistics used by Snow was simple. Now a days statistics has become more advanced resulting in easy and quick analysis and more accurate results.