Body & HealthFact

A mouthwash is named after the man who made surgery safe.

In 1865 Joseph Lister read Pasteur's work on germs and began treating wounds and instruments with carbolic acid. Post-amputation mortality on his ward fell from around 45 % to 15 %. “Antiseptic” later became “aseptic”: keep germs out in the first place. Listerine was named after him in 1879.

Useful: Sterile operating rooms aren't a given – they're an idea from 1865.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Hygiene Medizingeschichte

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