| Date | 1843 |
| Author | Holmes |
| Contribution | Proclaimed contagiousness of puerperal fever. |
| Reference | Norman |
| Notes | In this year, Holmes published a lengthy essay on the contagiousness of puerperal fever. In it he mentions that in lying-in hospitals there is often "a miasma, palpable as the chlorine used to destroy it...." (Page 163, Vol. IX, Holmes Works, W.C.C. Library.) In scanning this essay, I could not find any mention of washing hands in disinfectants; but Garrison says that Holmes "advocated" it, and Mann (?) says he "had shown" its value. Holmes certainly alleged transmission by medical personnel, and advocated washing and waiting between cases; but, despite reference to the use of chlorine as an antiseptic, it is not clear that he, himself, used or advocated antiseptics. (Possibly in other writings?) |
| Category | Causation |
| Pathogen Class | General |
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