Demographic and social context of deaths during the 1854 cholera outbreak in Soho, London: a reappraisal of Dr John Snow's investigation.

Deaths from cholera in Soho, London (late July to end of September 1854) exposed the epidemiology of the disease and demonstrated applied geospatial analysis by highlighting the shortest path principle followed by local residents when they obtained drinking water from a contaminated pump. The present investigation explores if households and individuals with different demographic and socio-economic characteristics were more or less likely to obtain their water from the pump and succumb to the disease. It combines information from the 1851 Population Census and topographic databases with the digital deaths and water pump data to reveal the risk of exposure and the mortality rate were greater for certain occupations, age groups and people living at high residential density irrespective of proximity to the contaminated water pump.