In 1847, at Vienna General Hospital’s First Obstetrical Clinic, Dr. Ignaz Samelweiss proposed deaths of infants delivered in the hospital were caused by transmission of germs on the hands of doctors, and from dirty sheets. The hospital denied him the assistance of other doctors, so he separated the mothers into a group cared for exclusively by nuns, with antiseptic technique and washed sheets. A second group was cared for by doctors who dismissed the need for antiseptic technique.
Dr. Samelweiss proved sterile technique reduced the death rate of infants from over 30% to less than 1%. He was rewarded by being fired from the hospital staff, and ostracized by the profession. Over the next twenty years, he became increasingly angry the medical community did not accept that antiseptic technique saved lives. In 1865, he was committed to a mental institution, and died fourteen days later, at age 47, after he was beaten by the guards and developed a gangrenous wound.
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