Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818-1865) was an obstetric assistant at the General Hospital in Vienna at a time when 10% of women were dying of puerperal (childbed) fever.

Short Biography:

He realized that the cause was infectious matter carried on the hands of doctors treating the women after handling corpses in the postmortem room. He introduced aseptic methods (hand-washing in chlorinated lime), and mortality fell to almost zero.

Semmelweis was sacked for his efforts, which were not widely adopted. It was left to Dlister to reintroduce aseptic procedures.

Why is Ignaz Semmelweis famous?

Ignaz Semmelweis was an Hungarian obstetrician who pioneered asepsis.

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Tags: obstetrician, procedures, asepsis

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Category: Scientists  - ( Scientists Archive)

Date Added: 15 June '12

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