Ignaz Semmelweis: tragic pioneer in the prevention of puerperal sepsis
2008; MA Healthcare; Volume: 69; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.12968/hmed.2008.69.6.29631
ISSN1759-7390
Autores Tópico(s)Medical History and Innovations
Resumo5 his year marks the 190th anniversary of the birth of Ignaz Semmelweis, born in Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, in 1818. From earliest times, infection of the genital tract, often resulting in peritonitis, septicaemia, pyaemia and death – ‘child-bed fever’ or ‘puerperal fever’ – was a feared complication of delivery or abortion. With the establishment of lying-in hospitals, the disease often assumed epidemic proportions; it was safer to be delivered at home than in hospital.
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