Uz 200. obljetnicu rođenja Ignaza Philippa Semmelweisa

• Main Author: Atalić, Bruno
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Croatian
• Published: Croatian scientific society for the history of health culture 2018
• Subjects: Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis; puerperalna sepsa; porodništvo; puerperal sepsis; Obstetrics; sami
• Online Access: https://hrcak.srce.hr/205111; https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/301813

Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis značajan je za povijest medicine zbog svojeg otkrića uzroka puerperalne sepse, do kojega je došao tijekom rada na Prvoj porodničkoj klinici bečke Allgemeines Krankenhaus. Budući da je ta klinika, koju su vodili liječnici, imala puno veću smrtnost rodilja od Druge porodničke klinike, koju su vodile babice, želio je utvrditi uzroke takva stanja. Došao je do zaključka da puerperalnu sepsu prenose sami liječnici i studenti medicine budući da su nakon obavljanja anatomskih sekcija odlazili izvoditi porođaje, pri čemu su ruke najčešće prali samo sapunom. Semmelweis je umjesto toga predložio obvezatno pranje ruku u otopini kalij-hipoklorita, čime je smrtnost na Prvoj izjednačio sa smrtnošću na Drugoj porodničkoj klinici. Unatoč tome, njegovo je otkriće naišlo na odbacivanje etabliranih medicinskih krugova. Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis’s significance for the history of medicine lies in his discovery of the cause of puerperal fever. He discovered it during his work at the First Obstetrics Clinic of the Vienna’s Allgemeines Krankenhaus. Since the mentioned Clinic, led by the doctors, had much higher mortality rates of the child-bearing women than the Second Obstetrics Clinic, led by the midwives, he wanted to determine the causes of such a state. He came to the conclusion that puerperal sepsis was transmitted by the doctors and medical students, who after performing the anatomical sections started to perform the births with their hands beforehand washed only with soap. Semmelweis instead proposed a mandatory hand washing in a potassium-hypochlorite solution thus making the mortality at the First equivalent to the mortality at the Second Obstetrics Clinic. Despite this, his discovery was rejected by the established medical circuits.