Public sanitation infrastructure — sewers, treated water supplies, waste-collection systems — was constructed in major industrial cities during the 19th and early 20th centuries amid recurring epidemics of cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis. Mortality from these diseases declined substantially over the same period, typically before the introduction of antibiotics or specific medical treatments. Public-health historians often credit infrastructure investments as central to these declines.
Based on the passage, which inference is most strongly supported?
- A
Antibiotics were widely available before the 19th century
- B
Reductions in infectious-disease mortality before the 20th century depended primarily on antibiotic treatments
- Ccheck_circle
Conditions outside the clinic can play a substantial role in shaping public-health outcomes
- D
Sanitation infrastructure has no relationship to disease outcomes
Explanation
Pre-antibiotic mortality declines linked to infrastructure supports B. A, C, D contradict the passage.