Changes in health practices have resulted from the acceptance of the
germ theory of disease. Before germ theory, illness was treated by appeals
to supernatural powers or by trying to adjust body fluids through induced
vomiting, bleeding, or purging. The modern approach emphasizes sanitation,
the safe handling of food and water, the pasteurization of milk, quarantine,
and aseptic surgical techniques to keep germs out of the body; vaccinations
to strengthen the body's immune system against subsequent infection by
the same kind of microorganisms; and antibiotics and other chemicals and
processes to destroy microorganisms.
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Nature of Science (grades 9-12): Historical Perspectives.
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