IGNAZ SEMMELWEIS (1818–1865). Known as the “father of infection control”, Dr Ignaz (or Ignac) Semmelweis (fig 1) was a Hungarian born physician who ...SkiptomaincontentYouarehereHomeArchiveVolume13, Issue3IgnazSemmelweisandthebirthofinfectioncontrolEmailalertsArticleTextArticlemenuArticleTextArticleinfoCitationToolsShareResponsesArticlemetricsAlertsPDFHeroesandmartyrsofqualityandsafetyIgnazSemmelweisandthebirthofinfectioncontrolFreeMBest,DNeuhauserDepartmentofEpidemiologyandBiostatistics,CaseSchoolofMedicine,CaseWesternReserveUniversity,Cleveland,Ohio,USACorrespondenceto:
ProfessorDNeuhauser
DepartmentofEpidemiologyandBiostatistics,CaseSchoolofMedicine,CaseWesternReserveUniversity,Cleveland,OH44106-4945,USA;dvncase.eduhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2004.010918StatisticsfromAltmetric.comIgnazSemmelweisheroesandmartyrsWorldwide,sepsisisthecauseofdeathinabout1400peopleeachday.1Manyofthesepeopledevelopsepsisfrominfectionsacquiredaspatientswhileinahospital.Infectionsacquiredinthehospitalarecallednosocomialinfections.Theyarethemostcommoncomplicationsofhospitalizedpatients,with5–10%ofpatientsinacutecarehospitalsacquiringatleastoneinfection.Nosocomialinfectionsoccurin2millionpatientsperyearintheUnitedStates,causing90000deathsandresultingin$4.5–5.7billioninadditionalpatientcarecosts.2INFECTIONCONTROLInfluenzavirus,Legionnaires’disease,bacterialmeningitis,measles,WestNilevirus,tularemia,hepatitisA,rotavirus,Norwalkvirus,multidrugresistantPseudomonas,super-resistantKlebsiella,methicillinresistantStaphylococcusaureus(MRSA),andvancomycinresistantEnterococcusarejustafewoftheinfectiousorganismsanddiseasesthatmaybecontractedwhileinhospital.Infectioncontrolisessentialtolimitthespreadofthesediseases.Cross-infectionofpatientsbythecontaminatedhandsofhealthcareworkersisamajormethodofspreadinginfectiousagents.Handhygieneisnotedtobethesinglemostimportantfactorforinfectioncontrol.Eventoday,handwashingisperformedonlyonethirdtoonehalfasoftenasitshouldbe.3IGNAZSEMMELWEIS(1818–1865)Knownasthe“