* In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss, a physician in a Vienna hospital, discovered that fatal infections were spread among patients by doctors who failed to wash their hands between examinations. Semmelweiss immediately instituted a disinfecting procedure whereby physicians were required to wash in a chloride of lime solution after autopsies and with soap and water between patient visits. Doctors also had to change into clean lab coats before examining patients. As a result, hospital mortality rates from infectious diseases declined. [http://www.waterandhealth.org/newsletter/new/feb-1998/right.html] | * In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss, a physician in a Vienna hospital, discovered that fatal infections were spread among patients by doctors who failed to wash their hands between examinations. Semmelweiss immediately instituted a disinfecting procedure whereby physicians were required to wash in a chloride of lime solution after autopsies and with soap and water between patient visits. Doctors also had to change into clean lab coats before examining patients. As a result, hospital mortality rates from infectious diseases declined. [http://www.waterandhealth.org/newsletter/new/feb-1998/right.html] |