The past weekend I was astounded yet again, by a group of
friends who were spouting off lines from movies dating back to the
mid-1980's. I categorically admit, I
suck at trivia - especially pop trivia naming off movies and TV shows or the
like. When picking teams for trivia
games, I'm that "unpopular" kid who always gets picked last. I do however, have an uncanny knack for
locking away information about science-based topics. Do you know what rabbits eat their
droppings? I do...and that was from high
school biology class...
It was for that reason that Infections and Their Cause, a Historical Review by Bill Newsom is so fascinating. Dr. Newsom is a medical microbiologist
interested in the history of bacteriology and infection. The compilation of articles originally
published in the British Journal of Infection Control interspersed with
diagrams, illustrations and descriptions of his personal experiences make for a
most enjoyable read.
Prior to our ability to identify living organisms in the
late 19th century, infection was considered to be due to malevolence of evils
spirits, witchcraft, or the wrath of god.
Eventually more "scientific" theories emerged such as miasmas
consisting of putrid air from decaying animal or vegetable matter, stagnant
water or cesspools. Eventually, it began
to be understood that disease was somehow spread from infected patients.
The series of articles found in the book provides a
wealth of information and history on the life and work of the founders of the
field of infection control and the similarly to Semmelweiss, conclusions drawn
by these icons were not initially accepted - even if good evidence was
provided. Where would we be today if
Louis Pasteur had not disproved the theory of spontaneous generation with proof
that infections were caused by living organisms or Robert Koch and his colleagues
identifying the causative organisms of most bacterial diseases by laboratory
methods, many of which are still in use today!
Where would we be if John Snow had not recognized that
sewage in rivers and streets were a source of contaminating drinking
water? His removal of the Broad Street
pump handle from the well that supplied drinking water to residents of Broad
Street helped reduced the cholera rates of users of that pump! Of course the discovery of penicillin by
Alexander Fleming in 1929 and its development into a clinical agent by Florey
and colleagues was the tipping point if you will for the discovery of a number
of antibiotics in the 1940s to the
1960s.
This collection of articles is chalk filled with tidbits
of science that will be forever locked away in my grey matter and would make a
welcome addition to the bookshelf of microbiologists, infection preventionists
and geeks like me who are interested in the history of infection and infection
prevention.
Bugging Off!
Nicole
