He did the same work in St. Rochus hospital in Pest, Hungary, and published his findings in 1860, but his discovery was again ignored.In 1935, Leonard Colebrook showed Prontosil was effective against haemolytic streptococcus and hence a cure for puerperal fever. Notable cases
Elite status was no protection against postpartum infections, as the deaths of several English queens attest. Elizabeth of York, queen consort of Henry VII, died of puerperal fever one week after giving birth to a daughter, who also died. Her son Henry VIII had two wives who died this way, Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr. Suzanne Barnard, mother of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, contracted childbed fever after giving birth to him and died nine days later. Her infant son was also in perilous health following the birth; the adult Rousseau later wrote that "I came into the world with so few signs of life that little hope was entertained of preserving me". He was nursed back to health by an aunt. French natural philosopher Émilie du Châtelet died in 1749. Mary Wollstonecraft, author of Vindication of the Rights of Woman, died ten days after giving birth to her second daughter, who grew up to write Frankenstein.
History
Although it had been recognized from as early as the time of the Hippocratic corpus that women in childbed were prone to fevers, the distinct name, "puerperal fever" appears in historical records only from the early 18th century.The death rate for women giving birth decreased in the 20th century in developed countries. The decline may be partly attributed to improved environmental conditions, better obstetrical care, and the use of antibiotics. Another reason appears to be a lessening of the virulence or invasiveness of Streptococcus pyogenes. This organism is also the cause of scarlet fever, which over the same period had declined but has seen a rise in last decade worldwide especially in Asia with smaller outbreaks in US and Canada. UK had reported 12,906 cases between September 2015 and April 2016 which is the largest outbreak since 1969. "The Doctors Plague"
From the 1600s through the mid-to-late 1800s, the majority of childbed fever cases were caused by the doctors themselves. With no knowledge of germs, doctors did not believe hand washing was needed. Hospitals for childbirth became common in the 17th century in many European cities. These "lying-in" hospitals were established at a time when there was no knowledge of antisepsis or epidemiology, and women were subjected to crowding, frequent vaginal examinations, and the use of contaminated instruments, dressings, and bedding. It was common for a doctor to deliver one baby after another, without washing his hands or changing clothes between patients. The first recorded epidemic of puerperal fever occurred at the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris in 1646.