4 ms·
I am confused. So it was not the corpses? Can you spell out what the problem then was? (I presume general bacterial infections then), but then why was the other
by andi999 6y ago
I am confused. So it was not the corpses? Can you spell out what the problem then was? (I presume general bacterial infections then), but then why was the other ward not affected (so much)?
- sammalloy 6y agoThe puerperal fever that was killing the women laboring in the delivery room was caused by doctors doing autopsies beforehand. The doctors would bring bacteria back to the delivery room on their unwashed hands which then infected the women with group A streptococcus (GAS).
- andi999 6y agoThanks. So what did Semmelweiss get wrong then ('he almost had it'in the parent comment)
- sammalloy 6y agoHe was wrong about cadaverous poisoning. There was no such thing as corpse particles. This was before the acceptance of germ theory. He was right about hand washing, particularly with disinfectants like chlorine.
- lilyball 6y agoIt’s just germs in general. Autopsies on infected cadavers were leaving germs on the doctors’ hands that would then spread to other patients, so in this particular case the elevated rate is tied to the cadavers, but it’s not cadaverous particles specifically.