Question

1. a hospital in vienna noted that many of their female patients were dying of \childbed fever\ after they had given birth in the hospital. the rates of this fever were much higher in the hospital than they were for women who had given birth at a different clinic

ignatz semmelweis was a doctor at the clinic and he felt that the fever was being transmitted on the hands of doctors when they went from the morgue to examine women. he asked the doctors to wash their hands. after hand - washing was required, the number of cases of \childbed fever\ were reduced. he also noted that a doctor contracted the same fever after he cut himself with a scalpel that had been used on an autopsy.
reasoning: if fever as something that could be transferred from person to person, then...
a) the number of women in both clinics who got a fever would be the same
b) doctors who worked in the morgue would get a fever
c) patients treated by doctors who did not wash their hands would get fever

1. alexander fleming was working with bacteria called staphylococcus, which looked like bunches of grapes under the microscope. he could grow colonies of these bacteria on petri dishes with a growth medium. when he returned from vacation, he found that several of these dishes had become contaminated with a fungus. the colonies near where the fungus was growing had been destroyed. fleming then grew the mold and purposefully added it to a petri dish that contained bacteria colonies. the colonies exposed to the mold died. fleming named the substance within the mold that killed bacteria \penicillin.\

reasoning: if mold contains a substance that kills bacteria, then...
a) bacteria exposed to mold would be destroyed
b) bacteria could be grown on a growth medium
c) fungus can be grown as easily as bacteria

1. for many years, scientists believed in the \miasma theory\ which suggested that many diseases, such as cholera and the black death, were caused by pollution or bad air. hospitals would air rooms out daily by opening windows to remove any bad air that might infect patients. when microscopes were invented, scientists could view very tiny organisms that lived in water and on surfaces all around them. many scientists believed it was these \germs\ that spread disease and not the air.

robert koch was able to isolate microorganisms from sheep that had contracted anthrax. he grew these bacteria and then injected them in mice. the mice became sick with anthrax.
reasoning: if microbes (germs) were responsible for causing anthrax, then...
a) sheep and mice that were in the same area would both get sick
b) sheep would get sick, but not mice
c) microbes from sick sheep could make mice sick
these experiments lead to the development of the germ theory and the modern discipline of epidemiology

Explanation:

• Question 4: If the fever is transferable person - to - person, then patients treated by unwashed - hand doctors (who carry germs from the morgue) would get the fever.
• Question 5: If mold has a bacteria - killing substance, bacteria exposed to mold would be destroyed.
• Question 6: If microbes cause anthrax, microbes from sick sheep (source of anthrax) can infect mice.

Answer:

• 4) c) patients treated by doctors who did not wash their hands would get fever
• 5) a) bacteria exposed to mold would be destroyed
• 6) c) microbes from sick sheep could make mice sick