Childbed fever was a complete mystery for thousands of years, going all the way back to the time of Hippocrates. Throughout the years physicians developed theories based on their observations as to what caused the deadly disease that took thousands of young women’s lives, and how they could stop it. The Doctor’s Plague by Sherwin B. Nuland, gives us a clear understanding of how very few people understood germs and the importance of cleanliness. It is because of Ignac Semmelweis that we now understand how important cleanliness really is, and how it dramatically decreased the outbreaks of childbed fever. The way people handled new information in terms of preventing disease is completely different than how we do today. Childbed fever was a very…show more content… Today we have a much better understanding of how germs are transmitted, and how diseases occur. We also have many more resources in terms of technology. During the time period of the book, the physicians did not even have microscopes, and when microscopes were developed they were as hi-tech as they are today. The technology we have today allows us to research and figure out specific disease much easier, and during the time period of the book around the seventeen and eighteen century they did not have that luxury. In the medical world today there are hand sanitizer dispensers all over hospitals. Hospitals now have separate room for patients which allows from more privacy and also isolation from others that could be contagious to others in the hospital. Doctors today have to wash their hands and then wear gloves every time they come into contact with any patients. In society today when a physician or researcher discovers new ways in preventing diseases from spreading, other physicians and the public really listens unlike the physicians in the book who could not give up the theories from the past to look at the