Ignác Semmelweis, the best-known Hungarian doctor - Showtime

Hi, I'm Ignaz Semmelweis. Today you will learn how I became the savior of mothers and the most well-known Hungarian doctor. My medical career started in Vienna, where I started working at the maternity ward of the local public hospital. At the time, a lot of women were dying of childbed fever. If pathogens get into the womb after giving birth, they can quickly enter and In those days, this resulted in death within days, as we had no knowledge of these pathogens or how to efficiently treat them. I noticed that the mortality rate of women on the ward of medical students was three times higher than elsewhere. When one of my doctor friends cut his hand during surgery and later died, I found the same changes within his body as in those of the mothers that I had a revelation. I realized that the childbed fever was being caused by the doctors themselves by examining the women right after doing autopsies without disinfecting their hands. After trying out several chemical solutions, I chose chlorinated lime as a disinfectant. The chlorinated lime destroys the contaminants even from within the skin folds, so I mandated everybody to wash their hands for 15 minutes with the solution and a nail brush up to their elbows before performing examinations. I was not popular because of this, but I couldn't give up. By introducing hand washing, the proportion of women dying from childbed fever decreased significantly. After I became head physician at the St. Roch Hospital in Budapest and then a university professor, I successfully implemented this procedure here as well. I published my findings in various publications, but most doctors did not follow my advice. However, history has proven me right. Up to this day, the washing of hands is one of the most efficient methods of preventing infections. Now, the university that became of the Budapest Medical Faculty bears my name and my writings have become part of the world heritage. Don't forget, hands under the chlorinated lime. For more Semmelweis videos, subscribe to the university's YouTube channel.