Antiseptics

In 1846, 451 women died of ward fever in a maternity ward. No one knew why the patients kept dying, it turned out that it was bacteria that was killing the patients. Doctors would perform surgeries on patients in one section of the hospital and then go to assist in labor. However, they would not wash their hands or sterilize any of their equipment. Because of this the transfer of bacteria people were getting diseases from other patients’ illnesses and disorders. There were many scientists involved in the creation of antiseptics, the most famous: Louis Pasteur, Ignaz Semmelweis, and Joseph Lister. If it was not for Louis Pasteur no one would no that diseases and other illnesses were passed through bacterial in the air and on everyday objects. Ignaz Semmelweis took this knowledge and was able to come to the conclusion that if doctors washed their hands before moving to a new patient the risk of that patient getting ill was significantly decreased. After the great discoveries of Pasteur and Semmelweis, Joseph Lister was able to finally get the scientific world to realize that the sterilization of the surgical areas was absolutely necessary, as was washing everything as much as could be so that there was no chance for a spread of an infection to any other patient. Lister’s innovation of antiseptics was the culmination of the works of Pasteur and Semmelweis.

Louis Pasteur was a famous scientist, he is known mainly for his work with Pasteurization. He realized that if he boiled and then cooled liquids such as milk, wine and beer, he could remove the bacteria. After creating the pasteurization process, Louis Pasteur started experimenting to find the origins of bacteria. He was able to come to the conclusion that the bacteria were introduced from the environment. Louis Pasteur was not only known for his work with Pasteurization, he is also known for the Germ Theory of Disease. “The germ theory of disease refers to the discovery in the late 19th century that...