"1847: Wash Your Hands"

Question

by Marguerite Vigliani, MD; Gale Eaton

Ignatz Semmelweis was appalled. The Vienna hospital where he worked was world famous for its obstetrics department,1
but women would rather give birth outside on the street. It was safer.2
Inside, more of them died of childbed fever, especially if they were put in First Clinic. The two maternity wards or clinics accepted patients on alternate days, but whenever their babies arrived, mothers begged to be put in Second Clinic. The death rate there was lower.3
Childbed (or puerperal) fever was a bacterial infection common in nineteenth-century hospitals and even after doctor-assisted home births. It tore through the reproductive systems and blood streams of women exhausted by childbirth. In America, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. announced in 1843 that the disease was carried on the unwashed hands and clothes of doctors, but he was largely ignored.4
In 1847, Semmelweis came to the same conclusion. As assistant to Professor Johann Klein, he was put in charge of First Clinic and found the patients were right about it. His ward’s 1841–1846 death rate was 9.92 percent, compared to 3.88 percent in Second Clinic.5
Was it because of miasma? No. The two clinics were under the same roof and shared an anteroom; all patients breathed the same air. Overcrowding? No. Second Clinic was more crowded. Semmelweis ruled out one hypothesis after another.6
A chart shows yearly puerperal fever mortality rates from two clinics.
Source: From 'A Story of Medicine in 50 Discoveries', by Marguerite Vigliani, MD and Gale Eaton (Tilbury House, 2015)

1 of 3
Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which detail from the text shows how the author’s choice of compare/contrast text structure is effective in helping understanding Dr. Semmelweis’s impact?

(1 point)
Responses

“The mortality rate in the First Clinic dropped from 7.82% for the first half of 1847 to 3.04% for the second half.”
“The mortality rate in the First Clinic dropped from 7.82% for the first half of 1847 to 3.04% for the second half.”

“In America, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. announced in 1843 that the disease was carried on the unwashed hands and clothes of doctors, but he was largely ignored.”
“In America, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. announced in 1843 that the disease was carried on the unwashed hands and clothes of doctors, but he was largely ignored.”

“Although Semmelweis cut hospital mortality rates, he failed to influence medical opinion. He was a bad communicator, tactless, undiplomatic, and reluctant to publish or lecture.”
“Although Semmelweis cut hospital mortality rates, he failed to influence medical opinion. He was a bad communicator, tactless, undiplomatic, and reluctant to publish or lecture.”

“Semmelweis reasoned that some particle from the cadaver had transmitted the disease to his friend—and particles from cadavers, on the hands of professors, assistants, and students, could be transmitting it to patients.”
“Semmelweis reasoned that some particle from the cadaver had transmitted the disease to his friend—and particles from cadavers, on the hands of professors, assistants, and students, could be transmitting it to patients.”
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Answer 1

The detail from the text that most effectively shows the author's choice of compare/contrast text structure in helping understand Dr. Semmelweis’s impact is:

“The mortality rate in the First Clinic dropped from 7.82% for the first half of 1847 to 3.04% for the second half.”

This statement highlights the contrast between the mortality rates before and after Semmelweis’s intervention, clearly illustrating his impact on the reduction of deaths due to childbed fever and emphasizing the effectiveness of his hand-washing protocol.