Prevention is better than cure: the work of the early Nottingham Medical Officers of Health, 1873–1929

Summary 

In the past few years, a considerable amount of work has been undertaken to examine the work of the early Medical Officers of Health (MOsH), but this has been more of a general overview of their work rather than looking at the work of individuals. It is a great omission that the first three MOsH for Nottingham have been neglected; little is recorded in the literature about these three men who were at the vanguard of public health in the city. This article aims to examine a small part of their work: the environment; the spread of disease; and the use of isolation in controlling disease and vaccination. This is only a small window on the work of these men, but it goes some way to rectify the previous lack of information.

Keywords: Epidemiology, History of public health, Infectious disease, Vaccination, TB, Waste management, Medical officer of health