WonderHistory fact

In 1847 the Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis showed that deaths among new mothers in Vienna fell sharply once doctors washed their hands in chlorinated lime before examining them. Many colleagues rejected the idea, and he died in an asylum 18 years later.

Vienna, 1847

The story behind the card

At Vienna General Hospital, mothers on the ward run by doctors and medical students died of childbed fever, an infection caught during or after birth, two to three times as often as those on the midwives' ward. Semmelweis noticed that the doctors came straight from dissecting corpses, and made them clean their hands in a chlorinated lime solution; deaths fell to one or two in a hundred. He could not explain why it worked, since germs had not yet been discovered, and many senior doctors refused to accept that they themselves spread disease. He moved to Pest in Hungary and published his findings in 1861. In 1865 he was committed to an asylum in Vienna and beaten by guards; he died two weeks later of an infected wound on his hand. The work of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister later proved him right.

Türkçe oku

Macar doktor Ignaz Semmelweis 1847'de Viyana'da, doktorlar muayeneden önce ellerini klorlu kireçle yıkamaya başlayınca lohusa ölümlerinin birden azaldığını gösterdi. Meslektaşlarının çoğu bu fikri kabul etmedi; Semmelweis on sekiz yıl sonra bir akıl hastanesinde öldü.

Viyana, 1847

Viyana Genel Hastanesi'nde doktorların ve tıp öğrencilerinin baktığı koğuşta anneler, doğum sırasında ya da sonrasında kapılan bir enfeksiyon olan lohusa hummasından, ebelerin koğuşuna göre iki üç kat daha sık ölüyordu. Semmelweis, doktorların kadavra otopsisinden doğruca doğumhaneye geldiğini fark etti ve ellerini klorlu kireç çözeltisiyle temizlemelerini zorunlu kıldı. Ölüm oranı yüzde bir iki düzeyine indi. Mikroplar henüz keşfedilmediği için yöntemin neden işe yaradığını açıklayamıyordu; kıdemli doktorların çoğu da hastalığı kendilerinin taşıdığını kabul etmek istemedi. Semmelweis Macaristan'daki Peşte'ye taşındı ve bulgularını 1861'de yayımladı. 1865'te Viyana'da bir akıl hastanesine kapatıldı, orada bekçilerden dayak yedi ve iki hafta sonra elindeki yaranın iltihaplanması sonucu öldü. Louis Pasteur ile Joseph Lister'ın sonraki çalışmaları onu haklı çıkardı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Ignaz Semmelweis

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In 1847 the Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis showed that deaths among new mothers in Vienna fell sharply once doctors washed their hands in chlorinated lime before examining them. Many colleagues rejected the idea, and he died in an asylum 18 years later.

The story behind the card

Sources and further reading

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