Carl Mayrhofer
Carl Mayrhofer (2 June 1837 in
Carl Mayrhofer was a son of physician, he was recognized as an unusually bright student first at Kremsmünster Gymnasium, then at the Vienna University. One of his colleagues was Ferdinand von Hebra, a close friend of the discoverer of puerperal fever and founder of asepsis Ignaz Semmelweis. Mayrhofer received an MD degree in 1860.[1]
In 1862, Mayrhofer was appointed second assistant to professor
In 1863, Mayrhofer published the first paper on his findings, followed by several lectures in 1864. In these works he referred to Jacob Henle, Pasteur, and Bassi, claiming that some living ferments caused the infections.[3] Braun helped the assistant to get a new powerful microscope; with its help he successfully observed and described various microorganisms of different sizes, shapes and motility. He referred to these organisms as vibrions. Finally he identified one vibrion, the most abundant and constantly present in patients with childbed fever. It was motile, had more or less stable shape, fermented sugar and couldn't survive in acids. Experiments on rabbits proved that injection of these vibrions caused puerperal fever and death. At first, Mayrhofer's work supported Braun's views and the results were published.[1][4][5]
The publications of 1864 were a success, but "attracted universal attention <...> not in a positive sense only". The medical establishment resisted young doctor's ideas as much as it resisted Semmelweis' theory in the 1850s.[6] In an 1865 publication Mayrhofer concluded that infection was usually the result of contaminated hands thus rejecting Braun's concept and supporting Ignaz Semmelweis' rivalling theory. [7] Openly disagreeing with his superior, his fate was sealed. Mayrhofer's work was rejected and he soon left the clinic.[8]
He entered into private practice, very successful in its beginning. He was appointed
References
- ^ a b c Carter 1985, p. 38.
- ^ Carter 1985, p. 38-39.
- ^ Gortvay & Zoltan 1968, p. 236.
- ^ Carter 2012, p. 111.
- ^ Lusk 1885, p. 656.
- ^ Carter 1985, p. 39.
- ^ Barnes 1867, p. 413-414.
- ^ a b Carter & Carter 2005.
- ^ Carter 1985, p. 39-40.
Sources
- Barnes, R. (1867). A Biennial retrospect of medicine, surgery and their allied sciences 1865/66. London: New Sydenham Society. pp. 413–414.
- Carter, K. Codell; Carter, Barbara R. (February 1, 2005). Childbed fever. A scientific biography of Ignaz Semmelweis. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-0467-7.
- Carter, K. Codell (2012). The Decline of Therapeutic Bloodletting and the Collapse of Traditional Medicine. New jersey: Transaction Publishers. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4128-4604-2.
- Carter, K. Codell (1985). Ignaz Semmelweis, Carl Mayrhofer, and the Rise of Germ Theory (PDF). Vol. 25. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–53.
- Gortvay, Gyorgy; Zoltan, Imre (1968). Semmelweis: His Life and Work. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado. p. 236.
- Lusk, William Thompson (1885). The Science and art of midwifery c. 2. D. Appleton and Company. p. 656.
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