Hungarian Doctor Ignaz Semmelweis Pioneered Hand-Washing — Then Was Institutionalized For It
After Ignaz Semmelweis first advocated for hand-washing to fight infection in the 1840s, doctors had him committed to an asylum. He soon died there from an infection in his hand. Wikimedia CommonsIgnaz Semmelweis pioneer antiseptic procedures in the mid-19th C — and it ruined his calling . Though few may bang his name today , Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis changed the world in the 1840s with one simple theme that we all now take for yield : hand - washing ....