Gallipoli and dysentery

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Infections from wounds, as well as almost non-existent sanitary practices probably carried off more troops than direct combat up to WW2.

In the last great unpleasantness, the Allies had bulk antibiotics, mostly sourced from Penicillin "Pharms" in Canada and the USA.

Because they had basically NO penicillin, Axis deaths from wounds, injuries and diseases were disproportionately higher.

The US Civil war and the Crimean War saw the first glimmers of a systematic approach to casualty treatment, but "finesse" was somewhat lacking. Lots of Carbolic acid and alcohol being splashed about, with a vague notion of "antisepsis, but the introduction of practical "asepsis" (keeping the bugs out so you do not have to fight them later), started to nudge the death-rate down. It was the same in civilian hospitals. Stories of doctors walking straight from a messy autopsy into a delivery room without changing gowns or washing hands do not boost confidence regarding the survival of mother or baby..

The much later introduction of "Keyhole" surgery (making the smallest possible incision to do the job) also saw a reduction in recovery times and post-op infections. Slicing frm the sternum to the groin to deal with a feral gall bladder or similar, was an iatrogenic death waiting to happen.

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[Surpmil]

Infections from wounds, as well as almost non-existent sanitary practices probably carried off more troops than direct combat up to WW2.

In the last great unpleasantness, the Allies had bulk antibiotics, mostly sourced from Penicillin "Pharms" in Canada and the USA.

Because they had basically NO penicillin, Axis deaths from wounds, injuries and diseases were disproportionately higher.

The US Civil war and the Crimean War saw the first glimmers of a systematic approach to casualty treatment, but "finesse" was somewhat lacking. Lots of Carbolic acid and alcohol being splashed about, with a vague notion of "antisepsis, but the introduction of practical "asepsis" (keeping the bugs out so you do not have to fight them later), started to nudge the death-rate down. It was the same in civilian hospitals. Stories of doctors walking straight from a messy autopsy into a delivery room without changing gowns or washing hands do not boost confidence regarding the survival of mother or baby..

The much later introduction of "Keyhole" surgery (making the smallest possible incision to do the job) also saw a reduction in recovery times and post-op infections. Slicing frm the sternum to the groin to deal with a feral gall bladder or similar, was an iatrogenic death waiting to happen.

There are other effective "herbal" antiseptics of course. Have read that garlic juice was used in WWI to good effect and of course honey itself being hygroscopic is an excellent antiseptic. Have also read that in WWI the Russians included a clay powder with the soldier's rations and that this was highly effective for dysentery. The lessons from the case of Dr. Semmelweis are timeless. Women were still dying of "iatragenic" "puerperal fever" by the tens of thousands generations after his death.