Final answer:
Ignaz Semmelweis is known for introducing the practice of handwashing in medical settings to prevent disease transmission, significantly reducing maternal mortality rates from puerperal fever in the 19th century. Although his work was originally met with resistance, it eventually became a foundation for modern hygiene practices in medicine.
Step-by-step explanation:
Ignaz Semmelweis is renowned for his pivotal works in discovering the importance of handwashing to prevent the spread of diseases, particularly puerperal fever among childbearing women. In the mid-19th century, Semmelweis observed a high mortality rate due to puerperal fever in hospital wards staffed by physicians compared to those staffed by midwives. He hypothesized that the cause of the fever was a transferable material carried on the hands of doctors who had performed autopsies before assisting with childbirth without handwashing.
Upon urging doctors and students to wash their hands with chlorinated lime water, Semmelweis achieved a drastic reduction in mortality rates—from 18% to 2%—effectively establishing that handwashing was a critically effective method for preventing disease transmission. Despite his significant contributions, his proposal was initially met with resistance and scorn from the medical community, which was reluctant to accept that physicians could be vectors of disease.
Eventually, Semmelweis's ideas laid the groundwork for modern infection control practices and were validated by the subsequent substantiation of the germ theory by individuals like Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister, further emphasizing what Semmelweis contributed to medicine and public health.