Semmelweis and the aetiology of puerperal sepsis 160 years on: an historical review

Abstract

SUMMARYIt is generally accepted that Professor Ignaz Semmelweis was the first to identify the mode of transmission of puerperal sepsis. However no appropriate statistical analysis of Semmelweis's data supporting his theory has been reported. Mean annual percent maternal mortality rates for the Allgemeines Krankenhaus and Dublin Maternity Hospitals (1784–1858) were analysed. The introduction of pathological anatomy at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus in 1823 was associated with increased mortality. After 1840 maternal mortality was higher in Clinic 1 which was staffed by male obstetricians and medical students who, unlike the midwives in Clinic 2, attended autopsies. The introduction of chlorine washing of the male clinicians’ hands in Clinic 1 by Semmelweis in 1847 reduced mortality, whereas the cessation of handwashing after Semmelweis left Vienna in 1850 was associated with increased mortality. This statistical analysis supports Semmelweis's hypothesis that ‘the cadaveric particles adhering to the hand had … caused the preponderant mortality in the first Clinic’.