Childbed Fever: A Nineteenth-Century Mystery
Science Case Study Notes and Vocabulary Items
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (July 1, 1818– August 13, 1865): Hungarian physician now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures.
Chlorinated lime water: used as disinfectant (may be obtained at drug store, or prepared by mixing 1 cup agricultural lime (pulverized limestone or chalk—calcium carbonate—the chemical compound with the formula CaCO3.) in 1 gallon chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite, NaClO) and put on areas; has also been used in the home to disinfect drinking water or to bleach fabric, take caution because chlorinated lime is a strong oxidizing agent. Joseph Lister reduced the incidence of wound infections in health care settings by using chlorinated lime water.
Puerperal sepsis: from L. puerpera "bearing a child," and Mod. L. sepsis, from Gk. sepsis "putrefaction." Puerperal fever or childbed fever is a bacterial infection contracted by women during childbirth or miscarriage. It can develop into puerperal sepsis, which is a serious form of septicaemia. If untreated, it is often fatal. Septicaemia involves a whole-body inflammatory state (called a systemic inflammatory response syndrome or SIRS) caused by severe infection involving the presence of pathogenic organisms in the bloodstream, leading to sepsis.
Staphylococcus aureus(from Gk. staphyle "bunch of grapes" + Mod. L. coccus "spherical bacterium," from Gk. kokkos "berry, grain," so called because the bacteria usually bunch together in irregular masses; and L. aureus "golden"): species of bacterium that is a member of the phylum Firmicutes, and is frequently found in the human respiratory tract and on the skin. Although S. aureus is not always pathogenic, it is a common cause of skin infections (e.g., boils), respiratory disease (e.g. sinusitis), and food poisoning. Disease-associated strains often promote infections by producing potent protein toxins, and expressing cell-surface proteins that bind and inactivate antibodies. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant forms of pathogenic S. aureus (e.g. MRSA, methicillin-resistent S. aurus) is a worldwide problem in clinical medicine.
Streptococcus (from Gk. streptos "twisted" + Mod. L. coccus "spherical bacterium," from Gk. kokkos "berry" and so called because the bacteria usually form chains due to the manner of their cellular division along a single axis): Genus of bacteria in the phylum Firmicutes including species responsible for many cases of meningitis, bacterial pneumonia, endocarditis, erysipelas and necrotizing fasciitis (the 'flesh-eating' bacterial infections).
Serendipity: 1754 (but rare before 20c.), coined by Horace Walpole (1717-92) in a letter to Mann (dated Jan. 28); he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip," whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of." The name is from Serendip, an old name for Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), from Arabic Sarandib, from Sanskrit Simhaladvipa "Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island."
Links to information on the history of sepsis, puerperal sepsis and Native Americans:
- medres.med.ucla.edu/Education/syllabus/ID/pdf/B2-ToxicShock.pdf