Did you know?

May 5, 2022 is Global Hand Hygiene Day.

The inventor of “hand washing” was the Hungarian physician Ignace Philippe Semmelweis.

In 1946, this doctor made a disturbing discovery in the obstetrics department of Vienna Hospital: women who gave birth with doctors died more in childbirth (puerperal fever) than those who gave birth with midwives…

Young doctor Semmelweis investigates and discovers that the morgue is located next to the delivery room used by the doctors. He then observes that doctors pass from the dissecting room to the delivery room without washing their hands!

Dr. Semmelweis introduced a revolutionary yet simple protocol, suggesting that doctors thoroughly wash their hands before taking charge of a delivery.

For medicine, a great step has just been taken, and yet…
His discovery was disturbing because it went against prevailing scientific opinion. Some of his colleagues were also outraged by Semmelweis’ assertion that doctors, through lack of hygiene, were solely responsible for deaths in childbirth.

Semmelweis is mocked, scoffed at and banished.

It has to be said that he’s a poor teacher and diplomat, and is slow to provide proof of his claims.

He finally published his discovery 14 years later, in 1961, but the medical community refused to recognize this scientific breakthrough.

In 1865, Semmelweis was accused of psychiatric illness and committed to an asylum, where he died on August 13, 1865 as a result of ill-treatment during his internment.

Semmelweis’ tragic fate inspired Louis-Ferdinand Céline, who dedicated his medical thesis to him.

Semmelweis is today considered a pioneer: his research was used by Pasteur and other leading researchers. The implementation of his recommendations led to spectacular results: by the mid-19th century, improved hygiene had led to a fall in infant mortality and an increase in life expectancy.

The tragic fate of this visionary doctor illustrates the damaging influence that dogma can have on science, and even more so on medicine. We like to think that Semmelweis often repeated his favorite phrase:

“The world forgives you everything, except the truth”.

Dr Pascal Trotta,
Former intern at the Hôpitaux de Paris, Specialist Physician, Radiologist, Homeopath, Founder of the San Sebastian Institute of Natural Medicine
Paseo de los Fueros 3, 20005 San Sebastián, Basque Country

Request an appointment for a consultation with Dr Trotta Tel:05 54 54 44 43
– on site.
– online.

Order Dr Trotta’s natural supplements:

– Tel: 05 54 54 44 43
– Dr Trotta’s laboratory