Research on the Hungarian Obstetrician Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis’s Life and his Momentous, Discovery of the Contagious Nature of Puerperal Fever
Bioethics and Health Law Journal (BHL),
Vol. 5 No. 5 (2025),
22 February 2026
,
Page 1-24
https://doi.org/10.22037/bhl.v5i5.51879
Abstract
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818-1865) Hungarian obstetrician while at the "Vienna Krankenhaus" observed that the mortality rates from childbirth (puerperal) fever were highest among those women attended by students who had freshly come from autopsy rooms and pathology lectures. He demonstrated that mortality due to childbirth fever could be reduced if doctors washed their hands. He insisted they wash their hands in chlorinated lime. In two years, the ward’s mortality fell from 10 percent to 1.5 percent. Although this resulted in an immediate decline in the death rate, his discovery was heatedly attacked by the great obstetricians of Vienna. Semmelweis eventually was forced to resign. The brilliant and sensitive Semmelweis ultimately was broken by the indifference and callousness of his superiors and colleagues. He died in a mental hospital in 1856, when he was only 47 years old.
- Semmelweis
- Childbirth (Puerperal) Fever
- Hand Washing
How to Cite
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