History of Medicine II Microbiology

1. History of Medicine IIMicrobiology Packet #2

2. Introduction • Microbiology is the branch of biology that deals with microorganisms and their effects on other living organisms.

3. The 19th Century • Both tuberculosis and diphtheria are both really bad during this time and continue to run into the early/mid 20th century

4. The 19th CenturyDrugs • Morphine is developed from opium • Ether is discovered • If a patient is exposed to the scent of ether, he/she is normally knocked unconscious • Became useful for surgeries during this time period but people still died after waking up a few weeks later • Due to non sanitary conditions • 1846—U.S. Mass General Hospital starts using ethanol • Patient died later—post-surgical septum • Bayer aspirin is also developed and is the #1 drug worldwide

5. The 19th CenturyJohn Snow • During the 19th century, John Snow discovered cholera • Cholera causes violent diarrhea and death within 2 days • People dumped raw sewage, and defecated, into the water that they drank– causing the disease to develop and spread • Snow stated that people must not put sewage in the water that they drank, that water must be disinfected with chlorine and that sewage should be treated before putting it into water.

6. 19th Century Cont…IgnazSemmelweis • IgnazSemmelweis was a young intern, with an abrasive personality, who worked at a children’s hospital • Semmelweis noticed that Childbed fever (puerperal sepsis) killed many children • However the women, who died with their children at childbirth, had a lower death rate if they gave birth at home with a midwife • Semmelweis reasoned that women were acquiring the infection from their medical attendants. • Hands were not clean

7. The 19th CenturyChildbed Fever • Also called puerperal sepsis • Caused by Streptococcus pyogenes • Normal vaginal and respiratory microflora • Can pass through irritaed uterine surfaces and invade blood • Giving rise to septicemia • Symptoms • Chills; fevers; pelvic distention and tenderness; bloody vaginal discharge • Diagnosis • Today, isolated from blood cultures • Treatment • Today • Penicillin • Mortality low if treated • Recovery • Takes many weeks • Relapses are common

8. The 19th CenturyIgnazSemmelweis Continued • Ordered that hands be washed with in “blind water” • A chlorine solution • CaCO3 (calcium carbonate)+ H2O + HCl • Ca(OCl)2 (calcium hypochlorite) which can dissociate into the ions Ca++ + OCl- • Bleaching agent • It is a very powerful • Our cells make it to help kill germs and bacteria • Good oxidizer • Today—Clorox—Na (OCl) 2 (sodium hypochlorite)—2.5% • Na + OCl- powerful oxidizing agent

9. The 19th CenturyIgnazSemmelweis & Joseph Lister • Semmelweis told people in the health profession to wear new/clean/sanitized clothing but started to “lose his mind” and was placed in a mental institution • Semmelweis wrote to two people • Oliver Wendell Holmes—writer, physician, poet • Joseph Lister—physician, surgeon • **Disease transmitted to living women • Didn’t know what bacteria it was • Today it is known as Streptomycesgriseus

10. Joseph Lister • Lister introduced the principles of antiseptic surgery into medicine • First successfully used ether as an anesthetic in England • Also revealed that the cause of widespread surgical sepsis was due to germs in the air • Used phenol, carbolic acid, to control the germs • Tried phenol spray, but abandoned it because of unpleasant conditions in surgical room • Swab before surgical procedure • Dressed wounds afterwards with a piece of lint dipped in phenol • Immediate drop in deaths after surgery

11. The Golden Era

12. The Golden Era • The Golden Era in Microbiology, and science in general, was between the years of 1875 thru 1915. • There were many positive contributions made by various scientists during this time period.

13. The Golden EraLouis Pasteur • Louis Pasteur is the 19th-century biologist and chemist whose work with germs and micro-organisms opened up new fields of scientific inquiry, aided industries (ranging from wine to silk), and made him one of the world's most celebrated scientists. • Pasteur became a professor of chemistry at the University of Lille in 1854, and soon began studying fermentation in wine and beer. 

14. The Golden EraLouis Pasteur • Pasteur with a knowledge of bacteria and yeast hypothesized that these micro-organisms were also the cause of fermentation, food spoilage and even illness. • Pasteur’s theories were not well received • People thought that he was insane and he was exiled from Spain into Germany

15. Louis Pasteur Continued • While in Germany, the problem of beer and wine were spoiling during the process of fermentation affected the taste—making them virtually undrinkable. • Pasteur was invited to work on the problem due to his knowledge of fermentation. • Pasteur soon demonstrated that a specific micro-organism caused each kind of fermentation and that when other microscopic organisms entered the liquid, that it caused “souring.”

16. Louis Pasteur Continued • Pasteur said to allow the process to complete but not let the micro-organisms take over • He said to store the liquid, during fermentation, in a closed container at 53 degrees Celsius for short periods of time. • The invading micro-organisms (bacteria) were killed. • This process, also used with milk and other beverages, is known as pasteurization.

17. Louis Pasteur Cont… • France, having the same problem, invited him back and while there, he later developed sterilization techniques where an object is sterilized at temperatures of more than 100 degrees Celsius in a closed system • Today, a temperature of 120 degrees Celsius is used.

18. Pasteur Continued…Rabies • Pasteur then turned his attention to rabies around 1880 • Looked for a vaccine that would be used to control the disease • Without a vaccine, death occurred almost 100% of the time • Believed that an attenuated (weakened form of the disease) rabies vaccine could be made • However, the only way to test his vaccine would be on a human that was bitten by a rabid dog.

19. Louis Pasteur & Transposal of Virus • Pasteur knew that rabies took anywhere from weeks to months to develop its symptoms • Pasteur found a rabid dog and hypothesized that the micro-organism (virus) would be found in the saliva of the mammal. • Pasteur then injected the virus into a healthy dog and that dog developed rabies • However, following that, he injected a rabbit from infected dog #2. • Pasteur recognized that the symptoms of rabies did not show in rabbit until the 26th day • Pasteur passed the rabies virus along a series of rabbits and he noticed that the incubation period got less—6 days

20. Louis Pasteur Cont…Rabies • After going through a series of rabbits, Pasteur then injected yet another dog and found that the dog had an incubation period of 26 days. • Continuing his research, Pasteur ground up a dead rabbit—dried it for a period of time—then placed virus into a new dog • Virus did not show for 26 days • The virus was attenuated…it had become “weakened” and less virulent.

21.  Louis Pasteur Cont…Rabies • Pasteur came across a 9yr old boy bitten by rabid dog, Joseph Meister, and tried the vaccine on the boy. • Pasteur decided to give the boy doses of the vaccine for 14 days. • Felt that beyond 14 days that death was inevitable • However, the vaccine was stopped at Day 11 • Meister’s health improved and Pasteur had created the vaccine against rabies

22. The Golden EraRobert Koch • Robert Koch, a German physician, helped validate the work of Pasteur. • Although Pasteur developed a vaccine for anthrax, then generally found in sheep, Koch was the first person, using pure culture techniques based on the work of Pasteur, to isolate anthrax bacillus and observe the bacterium’s life cycle.

23. The Golden EraRobert Koch • Koch, also isolated the organism for tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, and went to India where he discovered the organism responsible for cholera • Koch saw that the organism, Vibriocholerae, was present in the Gahanna’s River • When he presented his results, he was laughed at and mocked.

24. The Golden EraKoch & Pasteur Koch & Pasteur Koch’s Postulates The agent must be present in every case of the disease. The agent must be isolated from the host & grown in vitro. The disease must be reproduced when a pure culture of the agent is inoculated into a healthy susceptible host. The same agent must be recovered once again from the experimentally infected host. • Koch and Pasteur jointly proposed the “germ theory” of disease and their research helped supplant this scientific thought. • Although Pasteur is known as the “father” of immunology, Koch developed what is today known as Koch’s postulates—proof that an infectious agent is responsible for a specific disease.

25. The Golden EraDmitri Iwanowski • On 12th February 1892, Dmitri Iwanowski, a Russian botanist, presented a paper to the St. Petersburg Academy of Science which showed that extracts from diseased tobacco plants could transmit disease to other plants after passage through ceramic filters fine enough to retain the smallest known bacteria. • This is generally recognized as the beginning of Virology.

26. The Golden EraDmitri Iwanowski • Iwanowski was crazy in the eyes of some. • Iwanowski said that he would drink a bottle containing a micro-organism. • He did, became sick and was unconscious in three hours. • Iwanowski was convinced of Pasteur’s and Koch’s germ theory. • Iwanowski went to Berlin with Robert Koch where he discovered the virus that caused diseased tobacco plants.

27. The Golden EraFriedrich Loeffler • Friedrich Loeffler, a German bacteriologist, worked approximately five years with Robert Koch. • Additionally, Loeffler worked with a student, Emile Roux, that studied diphtheria and foot and mouth disease.

28. The Golden EraFriedrich Loeffler • Loeffler discovered that diphtheria was caused by the bacteria Corynebacteriumdiphtheriae. • However, it was the toxin, produced by the bacteria, that was causing multiple deaths. • Loeffler saw that the heart, of the guinea pigs being studied, “quit” while the bacterium was in the throat. • The heart cells had died.

29.  The Golden EraFreiedrichLoeffler • Death was due to a toxin produced by the bacteria • Loeffler added formaldehyde to the toxin, injected it into his specimen, and it did not die. • Loeffler had discovered an anti-toxin • Children were given the anti-toxin if they had the disease • Loeffler’s discovery began the era of preventative and therapeutic medicine.

30. Review

31. Review I • Many important discoveries were made during the 19th century and early 20th century that helped develop medicine as we know it today.

32. Review II