Germ Theory and Microscopy

The germ theory of disease states that specific microscopic organisms, or "germs," are responsible for causing many diseases.

The germ theory proposes that microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and prions can invade a host and cause illness through their growth and reproduction within the body. Diseases caused by these pathogens are called infectious diseases, and while germs are the primary cause, environmental and hereditary factors can influence disease severity and susceptibility. 

Microscopy is how we get a look at such tiny creatures.

This is a video clip from a fictional TV series about someone with advanced knowledge of science interacting with someone from a world without that and it may help you understand the idea of using a microscope to see things too small to see.

If you are adding water infrastructure in a very underdeveloped area, you may need some basic understanding of these concepts to effectively use my very basic water infrastructure posts. Or you may wish to try to bring locals up to speed if you work for an NGO so it isn't a disaster waiting to happen the minute you leave.

So very quick and dirty, there are TWO things water treatment is intended to do:

1. Remove poisonous chemicals.

2. Kill most germs so the water doesn't make you sick.

Chemicals don't grow. Your filters can get saturated and need to be cleaned or replaced, but the chemicals in the water don't multiply.

Germs do multiply.

Water doesn't need to be completely free of all chemicals or germs. In fact, it can be harmful to consume water that has had ALL chemicals removed. ("Distilled water.")

If you put amoeba in distilled water, they take on water so fast they explode. These are tiny single-celled organisms but relatively large for microscopic organisms and something you may be able to see with relatively little magnification.

So an effective water treatment system accounts for BOTH chemicals and germs and can be customized to account for what specific water issues you have.

For example, this piece is for treating waste water from industrial processes.

You can make a magnifier using frozen water to teach basics of science under potentially very primitive circumstances with limited resources.

I have read stories about clinics in very underdeveloped areas doing things like re-using needles or re-using what are intended to be disposable syringes without sterilizing them and disastrously spreading disease.

If you perform any kind of surgery, no matter how minor (such as lancing a boil with a needle) you should sterilize all surgical instruments and wash hands etc. Some means to sterilize them include heat, soaking in alcohol or peroxide.

I've performed very minor procedures on myself by sticking a needle in a lit match. I have a genetic disorder and compromised immune system. If you have no other options, this can potentially work safely to kill germs and make sure the solution isn't worse than the problem.

Some non-invasive yet significant surgeries have been done for thousands of years, such as castration. Historically, it probably involved cutting the testicles off and cauterizing the wound (sealing it with high heat). Cauterizing the wound would also kill most or all microbes introduced during surgery under primitive conditions.

This is a poor quality movie clip from a film called Braveheart. They are cauterizing battle wounds after a battle with a red hot metal poker. They are trying to stop the bleeding and reduce incidence of infection in the wound.

The thing he's drinking from probably contains alcohol to help him cope with the pain.

I have no idea how accurate that is. But sometimes old stories contain clues to how people really lived. 

Under primitive conditions far from a more developed area, cauterizing something may be the lesser evil. I WISH we lived in a world where everyone had equal access to modern medical facilities but the reality is we don't and PRETENDING that we do and holding residents of rural areas to an unattainable standard costs lives.

Perhaps a REAL medical professional could develop a course or something for helping close that gap and give people in very rural areas pragmatic emergency procedures that a non-professional can perform instead of watching someone die while waiting for an ambulance.

I will note that even modern medical facilities don't always get it right.

Failure to adequately sterilize advanced tech used in operating rooms has been known to cause extremely serious infection and post surgical complications. Failure to adequately consistently follow proper germ control procedures fosters very serious hospital-acquired, treatment-resistant infections.

And primitive tribes stopped the spread of Ebola years ago in part by telling people "Don't go to the White man's hospital."