Ignaz Philipp Semmelweiss (1818 – 1865) was the Hungarian obstetrician who had the audacity to suggest that hospital personnel, in particular, surgeons, should wash their hands before treating new patients. Sure, we had thinkers and tinkers around like Louis Pasteur, but basically, before Ignaz- we were not much different in our thinking than 500+ years ago when people were afraid of swamp gas or assumed that either evil spirits or bad luck were responsible for all illness.
So this year when you cough or sneeze into your elbow to help stop the spread of flu or when you wash your hands before sitting down to your big turkey feast- thank God for Ignaz Semmelweiss (even if you can't pronounce his name right when you do it).
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