Dr. Inaz Semmelweis was a Hungarian physician in the 1800’s. In 1847, he was an assistant in the maternity clinic at the Vienna General Hospital in Austria. While employed there, Dr. Semmelweis discovered that the doctors’ wards had a mortality rate that was 3 times higher than the mortality rate of the midwives’ ward. {I’d be stickin’ with the midwives, ya know? ;)} These mothers were dying of puerperal fever, which is often fatal. Dr. Semmelweis discovered that the doctors were performing autopsies in the basement of this hospital, and then immediately going up to deliver babies in the maternity clinic without washing their hands.
Dr. Semmelweis made a connection between the autopsies and the high rate of mothers dying. After sharing his findings with his colleagues, he encouraged the other doctors to wash their hands after autopsies. This simple hand washing practice immediately brought the cases of fatal puerperal fever to less than 1%. Dr. Semmelweis believed cleanliness would reduce other diseases as well. His hypothesis was rejected by the medical community, and he was ridiculed and ignored because of his belief. This indifference by the medical community outraged Dr. Semmelweis and he did not cease to try persuading others to accept his theory. His colleagues, and even his wife, thought he had lost his mind for believing in “germs” that cannot be seen with the eyes.
In 1865, Dr. Inaz Semmelweis was committed to an asylum, and died 14 days after. It is believed that he died from being severely beaten by guards. {Wikipedia} What a tragic ending for a man who was spot-on about the spread of disease.
Years later, Louis Pasteur helped to further explain Semmelweis’ findings, developed the germ theory of disease, and germs became a widely accepted fact. Dr. Semmelweis is now considered a “pioneer of antiseptic procedures.”
In our day, we cannot imagine how a doctor could think nothing of performing autopsies and delivering babies without washing his hands in the transition. We are well aware of the importance of sanitizing and sterilizing hands, equipment, surfaces, etc. to stop the spread of illness and disease.
What were the doctors doing in the Vienna General Hospital in Austria when they performed autopsies and then delivered babies without washing their hands? Spreading disease
How did this spread of disease reduce to below 1%? Cleanliness
Cleanliness and sanitation {not vaccinations}, my dear friends, is what I believe to be the main reason for reduction in diseases.
There are a few other things besides sanitation that are a possible credit to the reduction of disease:
- Better living conditions
- Better personal hygiene
- Better nutrition
- Clean drinking water
- Flushing toilets
- Better medicine and medical help
In the “old days”, chamber buckets were emptied into gutters that ran into the streets, and children thought nothing of playing in these gutters, garbage and slop was tossed into the streets and alleys, unclean drinking water was consumed. {Source} If you visit countries today where diseases are prevalent, you will find poor living conditions and/or poor nutrition.
What happened to typhoid and tuberculosis?
Vaccinations for typhoid and tuberculosis have never been used widespread in the US, and yet the death rates for these diseases declined just the same. The only reasonable explanation seems to be good sanitation, nutrition, and better medicine.
Another interesting thing is that whooping cough and chicken pox are on the rise in our day. As much as we are told that these diseases are showing themselves because of the unvaccinated, this is not true. These diseases are on the rise among the vaccinated as well. In her book, “Be Your Child’s Pediatrician”, Rachel Weaver speculates that perhaps these 2 diseases are on the rise because the abundance of processed foods and vaccine toxins are weakening children’s immune systems. This is a good speculation.
Below you will find a few graphs that show the decline in disease before vaccinations. These graphs are used with permission by Dissolving Illusions.
Sources:
Dissolving Illusions
Be Your Child’s Pediatrician
Wikipedia
Thanks for the wonderful information you share! Your research is very much appreciated Jill 😉
You’re welcome, Jes! Thanks for reading!
I have had both a TB vaccine and a typhoid vaccine. It’s on my medical records. My children had TB vaccines, and Typhoid vaccine is recommended by various medical agencies when travelling to certain countries so I’m not sure why you say there aren’t vaccines for those??
Hi Karen! I should not have worded it that way – my apologies! I will change the wording a little to be more more accurate when I get the chance. Thank you for pointing in out! According to the CDC, “This {tuberculosis} vaccine is not widely used in the United States, but it is often given to infants and small children in other countries where TB is common. BCG {tuberculosis vaccine} does not always protect people from getting TB…..In the United States, BCG should be considered for only very select people who meet specific criteria and in consultation with a TB expert.” Also the CDC says, “Routine typhoid vaccination is not recommended in the United States”. These two vaccines have not been widely used in the US, and yet the diseases declined like the other diseases did. If vaccinations are what is saving us from disease, then these 2 diseases should still be much more common. The chart that shows the decline of tuberculosis and typhoid, is statistics from the U.S. {Reference: Historical Statistics of the United States—Colonial Times to 1970 Part 1, Bureau of the Census, p. 63}
{CDC references: http://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/vaccines/default.htm, http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/typhoid.html}
Thanks again!
Thought provoking…
I agree this could be part of why diseases are less prevalent now. I read somewhere (of course I can’t remember where) that some general doctors in smaller areas waaay back in the day would work with all their patients without washing hands in between. Sometimes they would even deal with a patient who ultimately dies, then go and deliver a baby. Once they began washing hands, infant mortality rates dropped tremendously.
I want to not vaccinate when we have children, but I feel like I have no evidence. This is definitely evidence that vaccines aren’t the only improvement we have made in the last hundred years or so that is keeping disease away.
I have a 5 y/o son who has not been vaccinated at all; except for the Hepatitis vaccine he got in the hospital as a newborn. I had no control over that since I had and ”emergency” C-sec before I was able to request that he did not have any shots. Thank God he survived the effects of that shot–it is ”effective” for 3 years. As for everything else, he is the healthiest child around; no problems at, except for the occasional minor cold. He’s vegan, very low sugar diet from birth and I’m raising him as I know best.
There is a lot of evidence, like what Jill just presented here. I read this free online book while nursing him and was finally convicted. I will not vaccinate my child.
”Vaccination Crisis” — http://sdadefend.com/MINDEX-Resource%20Library/Vaccine%20Crisis2004.pdf I hope it helps
Thanks for another great resource, Glori!
Jill,
I am not sure where to ask this, but how would you treat chicken pox? I followed your strep treatment and had great success. Would you do something similar? I am hoping to be dealing with this in the next few weeks. Thanks!
Hey, Joyce! Asking your question right here is perfect! I would personally treat chicken pox by giving lots of liquids, no processed foods, high doses of vitamin C {vitamin C therapy}, and also an immune booster like echinacea, elderberry, and/or colloidal silver. If the patient was really sick, I would administer the immune booster hourly until symptoms subside. Once symptoms subside, I would give the immune booster 3-5 times a day for a total of 7-10 days. I am not a doctor, so this is merely my opinion. 🙂
Thanks for the question!
Great to see someone else tell this. My Gyno told me this story after I got poisoned by contrast in MRI machine. This is example he gave that it still happens to Drs to this day. They can be ruthless if you disagree with them on science. The Rad Drs refuse to see how Gadolinium can hurt. When my Dr discused my results that Mayo confirmed he was treated pretty bad by some. I turned to cannabis after becoming ill and make many of my own treatments, mostly topicals. Love your page. Still learning a lot , I have the salve down great but trying to learn to make a more fluffy less greasy canna lotion. Also needing to get better essential oils that won’t irritate eczema on people. Any thoughts of ones to add to cannabis salve? Thx
I don’t have experience with cannabis salve, but I get my essential oils from Beeyoutiful {http://bit.ly/1fTu85Y}. The only essential oil I’ve used in a salve is lavender. Best wishes!