Reviewed by: Nasra Hajir
In The doctor’ plague by Sherwin Nuland, the author narrates history of medicine and how politics played a role in hindering medical progress. In the beginning of the chapter, the author began narrating about a young woman who died after delivering her first child. After his clinical observations and research, Ignac Semmelwei, an obstetric discovered about the childbed fever. This dreadful disease took life’s of so many women and their new born in the 18th & 19th centaury. Semmelweis examined the obstetric procedures and found out that childbed fever was transmitted by the medical students and physicians. Nuland writes about the life of Ignac Semmelweis, the challenges he faced among his doctors and the efforts he made towards the discovery of germ theory. The author wrote about Semmelweis efforts and devotion towards his work with an aim of discovering more about the puerperal fever. He resigned from his job as a professor and focused on obstetrics. He observed and dissected the autopsy every morning and did not find the connection between childbed fever and weather as claimed before. Semmelweis also found out the medical students and physicians transferred the cadaver particles with their hands from the autopsy room to labors in the first division. Since they did not wash their hands, the transferred the virus to the labors cervix. This virus was then absorbed in the blood and transferred to the fetus. He wrote, “puerperal fever was nothing more or less than cadaveric blood poisoning.” The obstetric found answers to his research and ordered everyone entering the first division to wash their hands with chlorine solutions (101). The use of chlorine solution as antiseptic in the first division decreased the mortality death by 3%. This was remarkable finding because it reduced the rate of transmission and the constancy at which mothers would became sick at the same time (103). He also discovered that women who delivered …show more content…
The overall organization of the passage contained both rising action, climax and frustrations. He used pathos to capture the reader’s attention. For instance, the dramatic beginning narrative of a woman who died after delivering her first child. Another prominent ethos that he used was proving the cause and transmission of the childbed fever. Semmelweis did not to do any experiment to support his discovery, he also attacked his critics hence the book he published was discredited.
The head of obstetrics, Semmelweis supervisor did not embrace his idea of chlorine wash because he did not want to take responsibilities of any deaths that took place in the Allgemeine Krankenhaus (241). He did not want to jeopardize his conscience hence declined to renew Semmelweis contract. Nuland used narrative tactic to inform his audience about the forgotten doctor who worked so hard to explore germ theory that was later invented by Pasteur and Joseph Lister.
Nuland wrote this book specifically to inform the audience about the history of medicines. The book also explains the in human practices that was done by doctors in the past. Politics also played a major role in obstructing, delivering and saving lives of women in the 19th century. Because of frustrations Semmelweis was admitted to mental hospital and later he