Carl Mayrhofer (2 June 1837 in
Steyr
Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
– 3 June 1882 in
Franzensbad,
Bohemia) was a physician conducting work on the role of germs in
childbed fever.
Carl Mayrhofer was a son of physician, he was recognized as an unusually bright student first at
Kremsmünster
Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey.
The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys o ...
Gymnasium, then at the
Vienna University
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
. One of his colleagues was
Ferdinand von Hebra
Ferdinand Karl Franz Schwarzmann, Ritter von Hebra (7 September 1816, in Brno, Moravia – 5 August 1880 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was an Austrian physician and dermatologist known as the founder of the New Vienna School of Dermatology, an i ...
, a close friend of the discoverer of
puerperal fever
Postpartum infections, also known as childbed fever and puerperal fever, are any bacterial infections of the female reproductive tract following childbirth or miscarriage. Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than , chills, lower a ...
and founder of
asepsis
Asepsis is the state of being free from disease-causing micro-organisms (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasites). There are two categories of asepsis: medical and surgical. The modern day notion of asepsis is de ...
Ignaz Semmelweis
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (; hu, Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp ; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian physician and scientist, who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Described as the "saviour of mothers", he discovered that t ...
. Mayrhofer received an MD degree in 1860.
In 1862, Mayrhofer was appointed second assistant to professor
Carl Braun in the maternity clinic at
Vienna General Hospital
The Vienna General Hospital (german: Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien), usually abbreviated to AKH, is the general hospital of the city of Vienna, Austria. It is also the city's university hospital, and the site of the Medical Univer ...
. Braun advised him to study airborne organisms as the source of
childbed fever. As such, Mayrhofer was asked to support the position of Braun in his bitter feud with Ignaz Semmelweis, who claimed that the disease was caused by contaminated hands, in effect blaming doctors for the
high mortality rates at the time (i.e. that it was an
iatrogenic
Iatrogenesis is the causation of a disease, a harmful complication, or other ill effect by any medical activity, including diagnosis, intervention, error, or negligence. "Iatrogenic", ''Merriam-Webster.com'', Merriam-Webster, Inc., accessed 27 ...
disease).
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. 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
vibrion
Vibrion may also refer to: the singular form of ''vibrio'', a genus of anaerobic bacteria with a comma-like shape.
Vibrion is an antiquated term for microorganisms, especially pathogenic ones; see Germ theory of disease. The term was specifically u ...
s. Finally he identified one vibrion, the most abundant and constantly present in patientd 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.
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. 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.
Openly disagreeing with his superior, his fate was sealed. Mayrhofer's work was rejected and he soon left the clinic.
He entered into private practice, very successful in its beginning. He was appointed
privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
of obstetrics in 1870, and a few years later adjunct professor within the same field. In late 1870s several disasters struck him one after another: he got
lymphangitis
Lymphangitis is an inflammation or an infection of the lymphatic channels that occurs as a result of infection at a site distal to the channel. The most common cause of lymphangitis in humans is ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' (Group A strep), hemoly ...
, lost two children, got addicted to
morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. Ther ...
. In 1878 he moved to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, where he worked first at
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...
, then in
St Petersburg. He faced numerous disappointments and frustrations, lost all interest in life and eventually died from long sickness in
Franzensbad.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayrhofer, Carl
Austrian medical researchers
1837 births
1882 deaths