THEORIES OF HEALTH AND DISEASE

I. The Germ Theory of Disease

The germ theory of disease states that certain diseases are caused by the growth and
reproduction of specific germs or infectious agents within a host body. The germ theory
was proposed in the mid-16th century and gained popular acceptance through the work of
many scientists during the 17th through 19th centuries.
In 1677, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was surprised to see tiny organisms - which he
called ‘animalcules’ - in the droplets of water he was examining. He made no connection
with disease, and although later scientists observed germs in the blood of people suffering
from disease, they suggested that the germs were an effect of the disease, rather than the
cause. This fitted with the then popular theory of spontaneous generation.
The observations and actions of Ignaz Semmelweis, Joseph Lister and John Snow
would retrospectively be acknowledged as contributing to the acceptance of germ theory.
But it was the laboratory researches of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) in the 1860s and then
in 1877 Robert Koch (1822-1895) in the following decades that provided the scientific
proof for germ theory. Their work opened the door to research into the identification of
disease-causing germs and potential life-saving treatments.

II. Multi Causal Models of Disease

The theory of multi causation is that the contributing causes (behavioural factors,
environmental factors) combine together in a random fashion to result in an accident.
During accident investigations, there is a need to identify as many of these causes as
possible. In reality, the accident model is an amalgam of both the domino and multi
causality theories.

The "Epidemiologic Triad"

of infectious disease
summarizes the factors that
influence an infection, and
the measures you might
take to combat the
infection: