SEMMELWEIS 



93 



often noticed at the deathbeds of puerperal cases." 

 He saw now that the students, coming straight 

 from the dissecting-rooms, had infected the patients 

 during examination. 



In May 1847 he gave orders that every student, 

 before examining, should thoroughly disinfect his 

 hands. But, though he had reckoned with dissect- 

 ing-room poisons, he had forgotten to reckon with 

 other sources of infection. In October of that year, 

 a woman was admitted who had malignant disease ; 

 of twelve women examined after her, eleven got 

 puerperal fever, and died. In November, a woman 

 was admitted who had a suppurating knee-joint, 

 with sinuses ; and eight women were infected from 

 her, and died. Therefore Semmelweis said, " Not 

 only can the particles from dead bodies generate 

 puerperal fever, but any decomposed material from 

 the living body can also generate it, and so can air 

 contaminated by such materials." Henceforth he 

 isolated all infected cases, he enforced the strict use 

 of disinfectants : and the mortality in Clinique A, 

 which in May 1847 had stood at 12.24 per cent., 

 fell in December to 3.04, and in 1848 was 1.27. 



His work was taken up with enthusiasm by 

 Hebra, Skoda, and Haller ; the news of it was sent 

 to every capital in Europe. In February 1849 

 Haller read a paper on it before the Medical Society 

 of Vienna, and said, "The importance of these 

 observations is above all calculation, both for the 

 maternity department and for the hospitals in 

 general, but particularly for the surgical wards." 

 A committee was nominated to report on the whole 



