Now, let us study the history of microbiology at length. First, let us look at the progress made in the knowledge of disease transmission and prevention. During the 13th century, people had an understanding of the contagious nature of certain diseases. Therefore, they would use current times to fight the spread of disease. In 1546, a poet named Girolamo frakkers Thoreau suggested there were three main ways that transmission can occur through direct human contact through lifeless, lifeless objects, such as clothes and utensils, and through air. During the 1700s, there was a prevalent belief that poisonous, invisible laborers were released from swamps.

These vapors were responsible for purifying carcasses and rotting vegetations and would enter the human body causing disease. This poisonous emanation was known as malaria which means that air this notion was prevalent during the time of the plague which ravaged Europe and took away millions of lives. Therefore, doctors would use protective clothing, literally from head to toe. To protect themselves against the plague. In the mid 1800s, the main principles of hygiene were not yet practiced. This would happen only after several health care reformers prove the importance of such practices.

And showed how to be effective in such practices. Some of the healthcare reformers were Edward Jenner, who invented the concept of vaccination. Ignace Semmelweis, who emphasized hand washing techniques, Jon Snow, who contributed towards the field of epidemiology, Florence Nightingale, known throughout the world for her diligence as a nurse, Joseph Lister, who established the anti sepsis technique, and Paul Ehrlich, who contributed towards the field of chemotherapy. Let's begin our study with Jenner. Edward Jenner was an English physician In 1796, tested whether a mild disease called cow pox protected against the potentially fatal smallpox disease known as variola. When he intentionally inoculated a small boy with the past from a milkmaids cow pox lesion, the boy developed a slight fever but recovered.

Then came the real test. Six weeks later, Jenner infected the boy with material from a small pox lesion. Within days, the boy developed a reaction at the site of inoculation, but failed to show any signs of smallpox disease. Jenner's therapeutic technique is known as vaccination derived from the word vac SR virus, which is the cow pox virus humanized ization is another word for vaccination. His work started the branch of human ology the study of bodies specific defenses against pathogens. Ignace Semmelweis was a Hungarian obstetrician who was shocked by the high number of deaths due to corporal fever during labor in his hospital.

Corporal fever is a type of bacterial infection acquired during childbirth. It is also known as child bed fever. He noticed that the disease was more frequent in words run by medical students, which was at 29%. Compared to wards run by midwives, which was at only 3%. These results suggested to him that the Cause was related to the medical students somehow. A careful investigation led him to conclude that the source of infection were the cadavers on which the students were performing autopsies just before coming to the world.

So, in 1847, Semmelweis directed his staff to wash their hands with chlorine before entering the maternity ward. As a result, there was a drop in the number of deaths due to poor pearl fever indicating that the spread of the disease could it could be interrupted. Jon Snow was an English physician, who played a key role in setting the standards of good public hygiene to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. In 1854, London was hit by a cholera epidemic. Snow, who had been studying cholera and its propagation suspected that the agent of contamination was in the water. He therefore mapped the occurrence of cholera cases in the city and show that they all centered around a public water supply as shown over here, around the Broad Street under snow did not know the exact cause of cholera.

His work emphasized the need for adequate treatment of the water supply and the need for pure water supply. His study was the foundation of epidemiology a branch of microbiology episode Mi ology is the study of occurrence, distribution and spread of diseases in humans. We all heard of Florence Nightingale. She was born in Florence, Italy, in 1822, an English family. She was a dedicated nurse who introduced the practices of cleanliness and anti sepsis into nursing. She set the standards of hygiene that saved many lives during the Crimean War that lasted two years from 1854 to 1856, which gave her the name the angel of premier.

While working in the military hospital, she sent requisitions for hundreds of scrubbing brushes to clean the fill the wards. She also arranged for either replacing or cleaning The dirty clothes of patients. This helped in removing the sources of infection. She also was responsible for documenting statistical comparisons that showed how poor food and unsanitary conditions lead to death of several patients. After the war, Nightingale used her political influence in England to reform hospitals and to establish public health policies. her greatest contribution was the foundation of the nightingale School of nurses.

Joseph Lister was an English surgeon who practically revolutionized the concept of anti sepsis. He was a professor of surgery at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland. His amputations, surgery patients were dying not due to surgery but you to post operative infections. he suspected that the surgical infections were the result of living organisms present in the air. He knew that carbolic acid which is commonly known as phenol had been effective in sewage control. So, in 1865, he used carbolic acid spray for surgery and for surgical wounds.

With this method, the wounds heal without an infection. Anti sepsis is the use of chemicals to either destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms on external surfaces such as the skin. Now, let's send the study with Erlich fall Late was a German medical scientist, who as a medical student was experimenting several cell staining techniques. The selective action of dyes on different cell types suggested to him that chemicals could be used to kill microorganisms differentially. To study this possibility, Ehrlich undertook an extensive survey of all the chemicals to find that one chemical that would destroy the pathogen but remain non toxic to human cells. In 1906, he modified and our Senate compound known as a toxic, a toxic was active against the protozoan parasite that causes sleeping sickness.

However, a Doxil had a serious side effect in humans. It caused blindness. by modifying this compound early was able to derive several other compounds which were then tested for their specificity against pathogens, as well as for their safety in humans. In 1910, he and his team discovered a chemical against the Sparky that causes syphilis. This chemical was made available as silverson early discoveries led to the beginning of another branch of microbiology, known as chemotherapy.