Wendy Moore[BMJ2009;339:b4890] correctly states that Oliver Wendell
Holmes recognised that puerperal fever was carried between patients by the
medical attendants before Ignaz Semmelweis did, but let us remember
Alexander Gordon provided compelling evidence of this mode of transmission
48 years earlier than Holmes {Alexnder Gordon, A treatise on the epidemic
puerperal fever of Aberdeen. London: GG & J Robinson, 1795].
Rapid Response:
Oliver Wendell Holmes and puerperal fever
Dear Letters Editor,
Wendy Moore[BMJ2009;339:b4890] correctly states that Oliver Wendell
Holmes recognised that puerperal fever was carried between patients by the
medical attendants before Ignaz Semmelweis did, but let us remember
Alexander Gordon provided compelling evidence of this mode of transmission
48 years earlier than Holmes {Alexnder Gordon, A treatise on the epidemic
puerperal fever of Aberdeen. London: GG & J Robinson, 1795].
Yours etc
Dr Peter N Bennett
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests