Introducing hand disinfection standards, in obstetrical clinics, from 1847
Scientific career
Fields
Obstetrics, surgeries
Institutions
Vienna General Hospital, Szent Rókus Kórház
Spouse
Mária Weidenhofer
(m. 1857)
[1]
Children
5
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (German:[ˈɪɡnaːtsˈzɛml̩vaɪs]; Hungarian: Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp[ˈsɛmmɛlvɛjsˈiɡnaːtsˈfyløp]; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist of German descent, who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures, and was described as the "saviour of mothers".[2] Postpartum infection, also known as puerperal fever or childbed fever, consists of any bacterial infection of the reproductive tract following birth, and in the 19th century was common and often fatal. Semmelweis discovered that the incidence of infection could be drastically reduced by requiring healthcare workers in obstetrical clinics to disinfect their hands. In 1847, he proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital's First Obstetrical Clinic, where doctors' wards had three times the mortality of midwives' wards.[3] The maternal mortality rate dropped from 18% to less than 2%, and he published a book of his findings, Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever, in 1861.
Despite his research, Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. He could offer no theoretical explanation for his findings of reduced mortality due to hand-washing, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands and mocked him for it. In 1865, the increasingly outspoken Semmelweis allegedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum by his colleagues. In the asylum, he was beaten by the guards. He died 14 days later from a gangrenous wound on his right hand that may have been caused by the beating.[citation needed]
His findings earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory, giving Semmelweis' observations a theoretical explanation, and Joseph Lister, acting on Pasteur's research, practised and operated using hygienic methods, with great success.
^Ataman, Vatanoğlu-Lutz & Yıldırım 2013, pp. 35–39.
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (German: [ˈɪɡnaːts ˈzɛml̩vaɪs]; Hungarian: Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp [ˈsɛmmɛlvɛjs ˈiɡnaːts ˈfyløp]; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865)...
IgnazSemmelweis discovered in 1847 that hand-washing with a solution of chlorinated lime reduced the incidence of fatal childbed fever tenfold in maternity...
The Semmelweis reflex or "Semmelweis effect" is a metaphor for the reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts...
clinics. IgnazSemmelweis was born in the house on 1 July 1818; he was the fifth child of Joseph Semmelweis and Theresia Müller. The Semmelweis family were...
assessed by an official commission, which discarded his mosquito theory. IgnazSemmelweis, a Hungarian obstetrician working at the Vienna General Hospital (Allgemeines...
Semmelweis University (Hungarian: Semmelweis Egyetem, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsɛmːɛlvɛjs ˈɛɟɛtɛm]) is a research-led medical school in Budapest, Hungary...
extreme that Semmelweis moved from Vienna and, following a breakdown, was eventually committed to a mental asylum, where he died. Semmelweis was not the...
Labarraque's chlorine and chemical base solutions was in 1847, when IgnazSemmelweis used chlorine-water (chlorine dissolved in pure water, which was cheaper...
screenplay by Daniel Christoff [de] IgnazSemmelweis – Arzt der Frauen (1988) – biographical film about IgnazSemmelweis Die schnelle Gerdi (1989, TV series)...
charité-Krankenhauses zu Berlin. 1: 485–523: 501. quoted in Semmelweis (1861):225-227 Semmelweis, Ignaz (1861). Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed...
research led to IgnazSemmelweis and Joseph Lister researching the importance of sanitized hands in medical work. In the 1840s, Semmelweis' observations...
Quoted in Semmelweis (1861) p. 125. The Osiander source is provided by translator Carter, footnote 4 same page (p. 125) Semmelweis, Ignaz (1983) [1861]...
extensions, Semmelweis was not however. Klein seems to have felt threatened by the younger members of the faculty, and he opposed both Semmelweis and his...
focus contaminated by the bacteria of suppuration. Earlier still, IgnazSemmelweis – who later died of the disease – included a section titled "Childbed...
Commission on the Health of the Army (1856–1857), based on her earlier work IgnazSemmelweis, who published his work The Cause, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed...
Neumann. An early supporter of IgnazSemmelweis and the editor of a leading Austrian medical journal, Hebra announced Semmelweis's discovery that handwashing...
Jakob Kolletschka is mostly known for his death which eventually led IgnazSemmelweis to his discovery of the etiology of childbed fever. Below is a quote...
asepsis evolved in the 19th century through multiple individuals. IgnazSemmelweis showed that hand washing prior to delivery reduced puerperal fever...
Donatella (15 September 2021). "SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and the Teaching of IgnazSemmelweis and Florence Nightingale: a Lesson of Public Health from History, after...
catastrophe of the era. The infection mechanism was first identified by IgnazSemmelweis. With the development of scientific medicine in the 20th century, it...
Islands in Iceland. Another important pioneer was Hungarian physician IgnazSemmelweis, who in 1847 brought down infant mortality at a Vienna hospital by...
maternal deaths and morbidity in the developing world. The work of IgnazSemmelweis was seminal in the pathophysiology and treatment of childbed fever...
Orlean. Delayed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr Semmelweis, a new play, based on the life of IgnazSemmelweis, written by Stephen Brown and Rylance completed...
examples in comparative anatomy, and were often used in teaching. IgnazSemmelweis investigated puerperal fever and he discovered how it was caused. He...
Global Information