In my research there are many professionals and academics that have made breakthroughs in their field which have led to the improvement of human-kind’s lot, and recognition and applause for themselves. However, there is one medic that I come back to time after time. Their dogged pursuit of their beliefs was met with a brick wall of dismissal, despite his theory going on to save hundreds of thousands of lives through an acta as simple as washing your hands.
While science uses the best evidence at the time available, we must be open to recognising that new evidence brings new opportunities but also challenges to tightly held beliefs, regardless from the quarter in which it arrives.
So by way of recognising the work of Ignaz Semmelweis, here is a brief biography of the father of hand hygiene.
Early Life and Career: Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was born on July 1, 1818, in Buda (now part of Budapest), Hungary, into a well-off family of grocers. Semmelweis initially pursued law at the University of Vienna but soon found his true calling in medicine. He switched his focus and graduated with a medical degree in 1844. By 1846, he had secured a position as an assistant in the maternity ward at the Vienna General Hospital.
The Problem: Puerperal Fever: At the time, one of the most alarming issues in maternity wards across Europe was the high mortality rate due to puerperal fever, also known as childbed fever. This infection often led to sepsis and death shortly after childbirth. In the Vienna General Hospital, it was particularly deadly; the mortality rate in the first clinic, which was staffed by doctors and medical students, was significantly higher than in the second clinic, which was staffed by midwives.
The Discovery: Handwashing as a Solution: Through careful observation and data analysis, Semmelweis noticed that doctors were often moving directly from performing autopsies to examining pregnant women, without washing their hands in between. This led Semmelweis to hypothesize that "cadaverous particles" were being transferred from the corpses to the patients, causing the deadly infections.
In 1847, Semmelweis instituted a simple yet revolutionary change: he ordered all medical staff to wash their hands with a chlorinated lime solution before entering the maternity ward. The results were immediate and astounding. The mortality rate from puerperal fever dropped from around 18% to less than 2%. Semmelweis had discovered that handwashing could save lives.
Resistance and Rejection: Despite the clear evidence, Semmelweis’s ideas were met with skepticism and resistance from the medical establishment. His colleagues dismissed his findings, often because they conflicted with the prevailing medical theories of the time, such as miasma theory, which held that diseases were caused by "bad air" rather than by direct transmission of infectious agents. Frustrated and disillusioned, Semmelweis eventually left Vienna and returned to Hungary, where he continued his work but never received the recognition he deserved.
Decline and Death: Semmelweis’s later years were marked by a decline in mental health. In 1865, he was committed to a mental asylum, where he died just 14 days later, ironically from sepsis, the very condition his work had helped to combat.
Legacy and Recognition: It wasn’t until decades after his death that Semmelweis’s contributions were fully recognized. The advent of germ theory, championed by scientists like Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister, provided the scientific backing that validated Semmelweis’s ideas about hand hygiene. Today, Semmelweis is celebrated as a pioneer of antiseptic procedures and an early advocate of evidence-based medicine. The World Health Organization now emphasizes hand hygiene as a critical component of healthcare, a testament to the lasting impact of Semmelweis’s work.
His story serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of challenging established norms and the often slow pace of acceptance in the scientific community.
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