2025年1月3日 · Germ theory, in medicine, the theory that certain diseases are caused by the invasion of the body by microorganisms. The French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur, the English surgeon Joseph Lister, and the German physician Robert Koch are given much of the credit for development and acceptance of the theory.

The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can cause disease. These small organisms, which are too small to be seen without magnification, invade humans, other animals, and other living hosts. Their growth and reproduction within their ...

2023年7月24日 · Germ theory, developed in the second half of the 19th century, identified microscopic germs, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and prions, as the cause of most human infectious diseases. Who discovered germ theory?

2017年5月15日 · Germ theory of disease is based on the concept that many diseases are caused by infections with microorganisms, typically only visualized under high magnification. Such microorganisms can consist of bacterial, viral, fungal, or protist species.

GERM—A disease-causing organism, such as a bacteria, parasite, or virus, usually single celled. Until the 20th century, it was common to lose a child to disease. Smallpox, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, and mumps maimed and killed thousands of …

Germ theory states that specific microscopic organisms are the cause of specific diseases. The theory was developed, proved, and popularized in Europe and North America between about 1850 and 1920.

2025年1月23日 · Although the work of Semmelweis and Snow successfully showed the role of sanitation in preventing infectious disease, the cause of disease was not fully understood. The subsequent work of Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, and Joseph Lister would further substantiate the germ theory of disease.

Medicine in 18th- and 19th-century Britain saw great change, especially following the publication of Louis Pasteur’s germ theory. This led to significant changes in surgery and better...

2024年12月13日 · History of medicine - Germ Theory, Microbes, Vaccines: Perhaps the overarching medical advance of the 19th century, certainly the most spectacular, was the conclusive demonstration that certain diseases, as well as the infection of surgical wounds, were directly caused by minute living organisms.

The germ theory is a fundamental tenet of medicine that states that microorganisms, which are too small to be seen without the aid of a microscope, can invade the body and cause certain diseases. Also called the pathogenic theory of medicine, germ theory was first suggested in the fourth century BC by Greek philosopher Democritus (c. 450 – c ...