Pasteur thought that microscope would be a strange thing for the farmers then he urged people to use microscope by encouraging them that little girl of eight years old would be quite at home with it.
Louis Pasteur published his Germ Theory in 1861. He developed it using his microscope and stated that ‘germs’ (microbes) caused disease and illness. The theories in place before Pasteur’s discovery were the theories of spontaneous generation (germs are generated by decay) and miasmas (bad air). Up until 1861 it was thought that these caused disease.
Pasteur’s discovery was important to the work of many other scientists and doctors. Robert Koch used Pasteur’s theory to identify the bacterium anthrax and in 1882 developed a way to stain the microbes which led to his discovery of TB. Pasteur’s theory also enabled the production of the first vaccines (methods of disease prevention) after Jenner’s smallpox discovery. Pasteur himself used his theory to discover a vaccine for chicken cholera. It also enabled other scientists to develop vaccines for Typhoid in 1896 and TB in 1906. Furthermore, the development of Magic Bullets, chemical drugs that destroyed bacteria and kept the body intact, was down to Pasteur’s discovery.
Pasteur did not only influence other breakthroughs in medicine, he changed peoples understanding of the causes of disease. In the early 1800s Spontaneous Generation and Miasmas were accepted theories; however it meant that public health was not drastically improved due to sceptical councillors, who did not want to pay. Pasteur’s Germ Theory completely changed the understanding of the causes of illness and his evidence helped reformers in Britain pass the 1875 Public Health act as disease was clearly linked to microbes which bred in squalor. His theory also made other developments in the operating theatres possible. With surgeons now understanding the causes of high death rates and infections among their patients, surgeons such as Joseph Lister started using antiseptic surgical methods which led to higher survival rates. Hospital hygiene was also improved with the new understanding of bacteria as the public clearly understood the link between disease and bacteria. Ultimately the training of Doctors and Nurses was influenced as theories were dismissed and Doctors were told to pay attention to personal hygiene. The increased quality of healthcare also had an effect on the life expectancy as one century after Pasteur’s Germ Theory the life expectancy increased from 45 to 70. All of these advances were made possible by our new founding understanding that was given to us by Pasteur.
In conclusion, Pasteur’s Germ Theory of 1861 changed the way we understood disease by displacing Spontaneous Generation and Miasmas in favour of bacteria causing disease. The new understanding led to developments in vaccines, scientific research and in general healthcare.