The Story of Louis Pasteur 11 13 19.docx

Kim Tyler Instructor Lucas Micro 101-6525 13 November 2019 The Story of Louis Pasteur The Story of Louis Pasteur focuses on Louis Pasteur’s contribution to vaccines and his mission to prove that all disease is caused by microbes. The two illnesses highlighted in this film are anthrax and hydrophobia, or rabies. The film gives insight into Pasteur’s struggle to bring enlightenment to the close-minded medical community of France in the late-mid 19th century. The story begins with the murder of a doctor by the husband of a woman who has died from childbed fever following childbirth. Pasteur is perceived responsible for the physician’s death based on his dangerous message that the doctor could have prevented infecting the mother with childbed fever; if the husband was ignorant of Pasteur’s claims, the doctor would not have murdered. Pasteur’s ideas were believed so egregious by the Medical Academy of France that Dr. Charbonnet, Pasteur’s adversary in the film, enlists the emperor to discredit Pasteur and put a stop to his work. The anthrax vaccine which Pasteur is successfully giving sheep draws attention of the government. The vaccinated sheep are surviving the plague and sheep that have not been vaccinated are all dying. Pasteur is able to prove the bacteria Anthrax bacillus is the germ responsible for the illness, and further illustrates the spore formations A. bacillus is capable of in order to lay dormant in the ground yet infect any sheep that grazes upon the grass. Following a government sponsored test in which 25 sheep were vaccinated and 25 sheep were not, and all 50 were infected with anthrax, Pasteur’s anthrax vaccine is judged successful and becomes accepted for use to save livestock. Dr. Lister, an historically important figure in antiseptics, makes an appearance in the film and upon meeting Pasteur, credits Pasteur’s leadership in aseptic procedure for Dr. Lister’s own success with antiseptics in England. Even with the success of his anthrax vaccine Pasteur continues to be persecuted by Dr. Charbonnet, while Pasteur is working on a cure for rabies Dr. Charbonnet infects himself with rabies to prove Pasteur wrong; assuming Dr. Charbonnet does not develop rabies and die. After weeks pass and Dr. Charbonnet is seemingly unaffected by the rabies Pasteur hypothesizes that since the sample was 14 days old that bacteria lose virility as they age and that must be why Dr. Charbonnet was not becoming ill. As time goes on Pasteur’s treatments do save lives and Dr. Charbonnet comes calling for Pasteur to treat him as he is in fact becoming ill with hydrophobia. Pasteur is honored by France and Russia, and Dr. Lister gives a speech honoring Pasteur for his work in vaccinations and aseptic safeguards which keep mothers safe during childbirth and stops the spread of infection that previously was taking the lives of mothers and patients. Louis Pasteur, a chemist not a doctor, is finally able to convince doctors that microbes do cause disease and disease does not cause microbes.