William Budd (14 September 1811 – 9 January 1880) was an English physician and

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evid ...

known for recognizing that infectious diseases were contagious. He recognized that the "poisons" involved in

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

s multiplied in the intestines of the sick, were present in their leaks, and could then be transmitted to the healthy through their consumption of contaminated water. He particularly understood this about the transmission of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

(as he learned from the work of the physician

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the ...

) and

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

Early life and education

William Budd was born in 1811 at North Tawton, Devon to an English surgeon, Samuel Budd, and his wife Catherine Wreford. He graduated MBChB from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

in 1838. Six of his nine brothers, including George Budd, also went into medicine.

Career

In 1841 Budd moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, where he started a practice as a surgeon. He became physician to St. Peter's Hospital in 1842, and to the Bristol Royal Infirmary in 1847. Using his theory and reading John Snow's essay about cholera in London (1849), Budd took measures to protect Bristol's water supply.Robert Moorhead,
William Budd and typhoid fever"
''J R Soc Med.,'' 2002 November; 95(11): 561–564, Retrieved 7 March 2010 He announced the importance of the work of two Bristol colleagues, Frederick Brittan and

Joseph Griffiths Swayne Joseph Griffiths Swayne (1819–1903) was an English obstetric physician. He is now known for investigations on cholera, which may have anticipated the discovery of the responsible micro-organism by Robert Koch Life Born on 18 October 1819 in Br ...

, of organisms (described as "fungoid") in the " rice-water evacuations" of cholera victims. The work of Brittan and Swayne was disregarded at the time, when the

miasma theory The miasma theory (also called the miasmatic theory) is an obsolete medical theory that held that diseases—such as cholera, chlamydia, or the Black Death—were caused by a ''miasma'' (, Ancient Greek for 'pollution'), a noxious form of "ba ...

of infections from the air prevailed. Budd, on the other hand, is credited with decreasing the incidence of deaths in Bristol from cholera, from 2000 (out of a population of 140,000) in 1849 to 29 in 1866. Budd's obituary is found in the Lancet 1880;i: 148. Part of William Budd's archive is held at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Selected works

''On diseases which affect corresponding parts of the body in a symmetrical manner''
(1842)
''Malignant cholera: its mode of propagation and its prevention''
(1849) * "On intestinal fever," ''Lancet'' 1859;ii: 4–5, 28–30, 55–6, 80–2. * "On the fever at the Clergy Orphan Asylum," ''Lancet'' 1856; ii: 618.
"Memoranda on Asiatic cholera, its mode of spreading and its prevention"
(1865), National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
''Cholera and disinfection : Asiatic cholera in Bristol in 1866''
(1871), National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health *
Typhoid Fever, Its Nature, Mode of Spreading, and Prevention
'' Retrieved 7 March 2010. * ''On the Causes of Fevers,'' edited by: Dale C. Smith. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Budd, William 19th-century English medical doctors 1811 births 1880 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society British public health doctors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh