Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865) was a Hungarian doctor who, during his tenure as an assistant professor at the Obstetrics clinic in the Vienna General Hospital, became interested in learning why so many women were dying from puerperal fever, which was colloquially called childbed fever. … More Ignaz Semmelweis: The Saviour of Mothers
Two of the most remarkable stories in military medical history happened in the exact same place: Walcheren, a strip of land that sits like a cork in the mouth of the Scheldt River running through the Netherlands and Belgium. … More A Fighting Chance: Disease, Public Health, and the Military, Part 2
When we think about war and health care our imaginations are immediately drawn to ideas of war wounds, amputations, mobile surgical hospitals, and even psychiatric trauma and PTSD. These are among the most visible marks that war can leave on its participants. But until very recently in human history, war and health care meant something else. … More A Fighting Chance: Disease, Public Health, and the Military, Part 1
