Semmelweis

[zem-uhl-vahys]

noun

1. Ignaz Philipp 1818–65, Hungarian obstetrician.

Semmelweis

/ ˈsɛməlˌvaɪs /

noun

1. Ignaz Philipp. 1818–65, Hungarian obstetrician, who discovered the cause of puerperal infection and pioneered the use of antiseptics

Semmelweis

1. Hungarian physician who was a pioneer of sterile surgical practices. He proved that infectious disease and death in the obstetric clinic were caused by medical students going directly from performing autopsies to treating patients. Semmelweis instituted strict rules governing hygiene that dramatically reduced the mortality rate.

Example Sentences

These include a cancer biologist at Semmelweis University.

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But a Semmelweis spokesperson said the researcher’s move to a Saudi affiliation was an “administrative error” that will be corrected.

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In 1847, when maternal mortality rates were extremely high at a maternity ward run by doctors at a Vienna hospital, Semmelweis deduced that the physicians were inadvertently killing mothers and babies by refusing to wash their hands.

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Unlike Karikó, Semmelweis' career was destroyed; he never benefited from the vindication that he deserved during his own lifetime.

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In some ways, Karikó reminds me of another great Hungarian scientist, Ignaz Semmelweis.

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