After Semmelweis's hypothesis, that there was only one cause, that all that mattered was cleanliness, was extreme at the time, and was largely ignored, rejected, or ridiculed.
He turned every conversation to the topic of childbed fever. Many doctors, particularly in Germany, appeared quite willing to experiment with the practical Only belatedly did his observational evidence gain wide acceptance; more than twenty years later, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, aged 42 in 1860 copperplate engraving by Jenő DobyHesitant publication of results and first signs of troublePolitical turmoil and dismissal from the Vienna hospitalHesitant publication of results and first signs of troublePolitical turmoil and dismissal from the Vienna hospitalTranslated from: [er] erhielt 1806 das Bürgerrecht in BudaTranslated from: Spezereien- und KolonialwarengroßhandlungDetails: On July 1, 1844 Semmelweis became a trainee physician's assistant at the Vienna maternity clinic (in German, Semmelweis's reference to "cadaverous particles" were (in German) "The author of the lecture was Charles Henry Felix Routh, but it was delivered by Edward William Murphy since Routh was not a Fellow of the Royal Medical and Surgical Society. He was dismissed from the hospital for political reasons and harassed by the medical community in Vienna, being eventually forced to move to Budapest. Ignaz Semmelweis, in full Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis or Hungarian Ignác Fülöp Semmelweis, (born July 1, 1818, Buda, Hungary, Austrian Empire [now Budapest, Hungary]—died August 13, 1865, Vienna, Austria), Hungarian physician who discovered the cause of puerperal (childbed) fever and introduced antisepsis into medical practice. So did Carl Braun—Semmelweis's nemesis and successor as Semmelweis declined an offer in 1857 to become professor of obstetrics at the Semmelweis's views were much more favorably received in the In 1856, Semmelweis's assistant Josef Fleischer reported the successful results of hand washing activities at St. Rochus and Pest maternity institutions in theIn a textbook, Carl Braun, Semmelweis's successor as assistant in the first clinic, identified 30 causes of childbed fever; only the 28th of these was cadaverous infection. The houseSemmelweis' advice on chlorine washings was probably more influential than he realized. Some of his brothers were punished for active participation in the Hungarian independence movement, and the Hungarian-born Semmelweis likely was sympathetic to the cause. Women were so afraid, many said they would rather give birth alone on the streets than risk being admitted to the second ward.Doctors at the time thought that infection was caused by miasma - poisonous gases in the air - but Dr Semmelweis wasn't so sure. Despite various publications of results where hand washing reduced Maternity institutions were set up all over Europe to address problems of Two maternity clinics were at the Viennese hospital.