As well known, Crimean and American Civil War surgery was horribly septic, with high mortality and casualty rates. WI the discoveries of Pasteur and Lister occured before the late 1860's? Would the fatality toll in either war decrease markedly with an understanding of germ pathology and disinfection with dilute carbolic acid?
A number of other variables play into this -- epidemiology was also in its infancy (Snow, for example), and this knowledge directly affects an understanding of how certain diseases spread and can be controlled. For example, the solution for cholera contamination can be as simple as boiling, but even these basic preventatives eluded doctors of the mid 19th century.
I suppose the bookend question to this WI is the influence that antiseptic surgery, germ theory, and disease treatment had on WWI warfare. Did the advances in surgery, epidemology, and treatment affect the relative mortality or casuality rates during this war?
A number of other variables play into this -- epidemiology was also in its infancy (Snow, for example), and this knowledge directly affects an understanding of how certain diseases spread and can be controlled. For example, the solution for cholera contamination can be as simple as boiling, but even these basic preventatives eluded doctors of the mid 19th century.
I suppose the bookend question to this WI is the influence that antiseptic surgery, germ theory, and disease treatment had on WWI warfare. Did the advances in surgery, epidemology, and treatment affect the relative mortality or casuality rates during this war?