• 1.4: Antiseptic Procedures


    • Zoltán Imre's "Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis"

      Read this page. Today, native Hungarians regard Semmelweis as "the savior of mothers"; however, during his life, many rejected his chlorine hand-wash antiseptic procedure. The childbed fever death rates dropped from 18% to 2% when he was in charge in the clinics and increased 10-fold when he was removed. The web media below connects you to a graph that was generated based on Semmelweis' data on childbed fever mortality. The Semmelweis' reflex term is used to describe the irrational rejection of the very obvious.

    • Wikipedia: "Yearly Mortality Rates" Page

      Study this graph, which was generated from the data published by Semmelweis in 1861. In the Wien maternity clinic, pathological anatomy was permitted; thus, physicians and medical students could carry pathogens from cadavers to patients. The Dublin maternity hospital had no medical pathology. Note the death rate drop after the introduction of the chlorine handwash. Wikimedia Commons user Power.corrupts constructed this graph using Semmelweis' data.

    • University of Houston: John Lienhard's "Nightingale's Graph"

      Read this page. Nightingale generated the polar-area diagram; she was very successful in communicating her findings with these graphs.