Epidemiology saves lives...whether we want it to or not!

Dr. John Snow founded the clinical science of epidemiology in mid-Victorian times when he demonstrated the role of water--specifically the contaminated water from the Broad Street pump--in a vicious cholera epidemic. Further, he demonstrated that governments can be HELPFUL in protecting their citizens by persuading the City of London to remove the pump handle and close down the well. He did this latter in the face of widespread opposition by the deniers, most of whom where scientifically illiterate physicians who scoffed at his data. Since that time, examples abound in which epidemiology has forced resistant entities to face facts and take action: the banning of CFCs, the widespread use of polio vaccine, cleaning up the water in many developing countries, and others. Today we face the deniers who, despite the evidence, persist in believing the Earth is flat and and that man has no role in the epidemic of climate change we are witnessing. We can only hope governments will continue to act to obviate the coming disaster despite near-violent opposition form those who put money over quality of life and personal opinion over data.