‘Google Doodle’ Honors Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, ‘Father of Handwashing’

by Shifra on March 22, 2020

In 1847, Dr. Semmelweis, a Jewish Hungarian doctor, began to sound the alarm in Vienna that women were needlessly dying in hospitals after childbirth due to the negligence of doctors, who routinely performed autopsies and other medical procedures without “bothering” to wash their hands between procedures. Unfortunately, Semmelweis’s calls for handwashing were rejected and mocked by his colleagues. He became severely depressed, and he was involuntarily committed to an insane asylum, where he died at the age of 47.

Via UPI.

Google is celebrating physician Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis and hand washing with a new Doodle.

Semmelweis was appointed Chief Resident in the maternity clinic of Vienna General Hospital in 1847 when he discovered the medical benefits of hand washing and how it reduces the transmission of diseases.

Google’s homepage features artwork of Semmelweis next to a play button. Pushing the button starts an instructional video on how to properly wash your hands based on recommendations from the World Health Organization….

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5 Comments | Leave a comment
  1. Dr. H says:
    March 22, 2020 at 14:35

    The story of Dr. Semmelweis is sad. But the fact that Joseph Gayetty isn’t getting his Google doodle is sadder.

  2. Alain41 says:
    March 22, 2020 at 15:57

    This sounds like a story, we don’t tell our kids.
    Wash your hands before dinner please.
    Dad,the Doctor that preached hand washing went insane.
    Ummm..

  3. Maynard says:
    March 22, 2020 at 20:27

    Semmelweis observed that births assisted by midwives survived better than those assisted by physicians. Another data point, albeit an old one, for questioning “experts”.

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