medicine, learn

lister

• 1865

• tested a carbolic soaked bandage on a child with a badly broken leg, it healed clean in 6 weeks

• made a baron in 1897

• funeral in 1912 held in Westminster abbey

key hole surgery

• using small fibre optic cameras, radiation therapy treats cancer, laser used rather than a scalpel for precise cuttings

koch

• 1878, realised most bacteria spread by contact, not air, said all surfaces should be germ free

William helstead

• america surgeon

• start using the Goodyear rubber company to make gloves after one of his nurses had an allergic reaction to the carbolic spray, led to development of latex gloves

kock, identified

• bacteria for blood poisoning 1878

• germ that causes septicaemia, using the chemical dye, methyl violet

• Then Gerhardt discovered that red sulphonamide dye, called prontosil, killed it

problems with lister

• ideas accepted quickly in germany and usa, not england

• carbolic acid was corrosive, cause damage to surgeons hands, would slow down operation, and could lead to death by blood loss

• some surgeons disliked that stopping infection was there responsibility