Question

Write a short essay describing John Graunt's contribution to epidemiology

Answer 1

Ans) John Graunt (1620-1674), from London, who published a book called Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bill of Mortality in 1662.

- “He described disease occurrence and death with the use of systematic methods and who developed and calculated life tables and life expectancy”. The first major contribution to record keeping was the “Bills of Mortality” and when Graunt took over the work, he consistently recorded ages, gender, who died, what killed them, and where they were when the deaths occurred. Graunt brought to light the diversity of human life and diseases that was previously not acknowledged.

- He was the first to recognize that the number of births and deaths of males surpassed females and despite the greater mortality in males they had less morbidity than females.

- Graunt brought to light a diversity of facts about human life and disease that had not previously been appreciated. He was the first to notice that the number of births and deaths of males exceeded those of females, he noticed, too, that despite their greater mortality, men had less morbidity than women.

- Graunt quantified for the first time the high mortality in children, noting that one-third died by the age of five. He documented that plague actually claimed many more deaths than had been ascribed to it, and he demonstrated that the frequency of rickets increased over the span of a few years from zero fatal cases to a level that indicated a serious epidemic.

- Graunt's profound observations quickly became the talk of educated London. Within weeks of the publication of his book, he was elected to the newly formed Royal Society. Unfortunately, his ascendancy was brief; he contributed nothing further to epidemiology after the publication of his admirable book. In 1666, his haberdashery succumbed to the Fire of London leaving him destitute. Prejudice against him for his conversion to Roman Catholicism hindered his financial recovery, and he died in poverty and obscurity a few years later. Graunt's personal fortunes proved to be an uncanny omen for the discipline that his work heralded.