4 ms·
The puerperal fever that was killing the women laboring in the delivery room was caused by doctors doing autopsies beforehand. The doctors would bring bacteria
by sammalloy 6y ago
The 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.