Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis substantially contributed to the prevention of maternal mortality through the discovery of the connection between antiseptic procedures and puerperal fever. Appointed for practice in the First Obstetrical Clinic that provided educational services for medical services, Semmelweis noticed that there was a considerable difference between the rates of maternal mortality in his facility and another clinic (Ataman et al. 36). Later, when his friend died from an injury made by a student’s scalpel and the same pathology that was presented in women with puerperal fever was discovered during an autopsy, Semmelweis suggested that cadaverous particles that remained on students’ hands after postmortem examinations performed only in that clinic caused women’s complications. Thus, he introduced the practice of hand disinfection with a chlorine solution that allowed a reduction in the clinic’s maternal mortality rates in four months from 18.3% to 1.9% (Ataman et al. 37; Nuland 95). However, his findings were rejected by the medical community of that time as they contrasted with the ideas of dyscrasia and miasmas as the sources of all diseases. In addition, doctors felt offended by the notion that their hands could be unclear.
In the present day, puerperal fever is known as maternal sepsis.
The general characteristics of sepsis include tissue injury as a result of the body’s dysregulated response to infection. If left unrecognized and untreated, sepsis causes multiple organ failures, septic shock, and death (Pittet and Allegranzi 2).
Sepsis remains a global health issue as every year, more than 30 million individuals suffer from it all over the world. In addition, it is one of the main causes of maternal and newborn deaths, with approximately one million cases occurring every year (Pittet and Allegranzi 2). Maternal sepsis is a crucial issue in countries with low and middle income, where it may be regarded as the cause of 95% of maternal deaths.
Antimicrobial resistance is a considerable issue that impacts the efficient control over sepsis. Resistant pathogens determine its rapid evolution and unresponsiveness to treatment increases the risk of patient mortality. In addition, the reduction of neonatal sepsis is substantially limited, as this type develops due to diseases rather than the absence of hygiene practices.
During the time of Semmelweis, Group A Streptococcal (GAS) postpartum infections caused by Group A Streptococcus were the possible cause of puerperal fever.
As a widespread human pathogen, Group A Streptococcus may be present in the FRT’s normal biota or carried by 5–30% of the population in the throat or on the skin (Mason and Aronoff 92). Although its presence may be non-threatening or asymptomatic, Group A Streptococcus is easily transmitted by aerosolization or person-to-person contact and may cause various diseases, including necrotizing soft-tissue infections, pharyngitis, invasive
puerperal infections, rheumatic fever, cellulitis, and scarlet fever (Mason and Aronoff 92). In general, pregnant and postpartum women are more vulnerable to GAS infections in comparison with other population groups. Although they may receive this pathogen from children as it is its frequent carrier or be a contamination source by themselves, women are mostly infected in the clinical settings from asymptomatic healthcare-worker carriers during serious interventions, such as surgery.
There are other microbial species that may cause postpartum sepsis, and they include Group B Streptococcus, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, staphylococci, coliform bacteria, Clostridium sordellii, and polymicrobial vaginosis-associated bacteria.
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis discovered the connection between hand hygiene and the prevention of life-threatening diseases. Observing the cases of patients’ infections after healthcare providers’ contact with autopsy materials and living people’s necrotic discharges, he understood the ways of pathogens’ transmission. The experience of Semmelweis is highly important in the present day as well as it allows us to examine the ways of transmission of other bacteria and viruses for efficient prevention. Thus, in the case of COVID-19, it was discovered that hand hygiene is extremely important for the prevention of this respiratory virus’s spread as it is transmitted via not only close contact with infected individuals but contaminated surfaces and objects. Thus, washing hands regularly, especially when in contact with common surfaces, helps avoid infection.
It goes without saying that people hear about the significance of handwashing since childhood from parents in schools, hospitals, and public places, and I am not an exception. For a health care provider, it is extremely important to wash hands in a correct way as hand hygiene determines not only the quality of health care delivery but the safety of people’s lives. Various campaigns in support of hang hygiene are organized across the globe. At the same time, knowing the rules of handwashing and hearing about its significance in theory may be less efficient due to its abstractiveness. However, the story of Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis helps us understand the contribution of this person to medicine and the importance of sanitation. In addition, research dedicated to this doctor indicates that sepsis remains a crucial issue- thus, it makes the necessity to keep washing hands more urgent, improving my professionalism in the future.
Works Cited
Ataman, Ahmet Doğan, et al. “Medicine in Stamps-Ignaz Semmelweis and Puerperal Fever.” Journal of the Turkish-German Gynecological Association, vol. 14, 2013, pp. 35-39.
Mason, Katie L., and David M. Aronoff. “Postpartum Group A Streptococcus Sepsis and Material Immunology.” American Journal of Reproductive Immunology, vol. 67, no. 2, 2012, pp. 91-100.
Nuland, Sherwin B. Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis: The Doctor’s Plague. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2003.
Pittet, Didier, and Benedetta Allegranzi. “Preventing Sepsis in Healthcare – 200 Years After the Birth of Ignaz Semmelweis.” Euro Surveillance, vol. 23, no. 18, 2018, pp. 1-5.