When they found out hand-washing was effective in improving health and stopping the spread of bacteria, how did they convince the whole world?

Question

I’m sure many people were skeptical about this, like how people are now with vaccines. But how did this seemingly common knowledge spread around the world enough that people were convinced it was true?

In: Biology

Answer 1

So this dude, [Ignaz Semmelweis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis) discovered that hand washing **seriously** improved outcomes and wrote a book on it back in 1861.
The medical community ridiculed him and rejected his finding causing him to have a nervous breakdown and they *had him commited to an asylum!!*
The guards there beat him and he died two weeks later from an infection that unironicly could have been prevented with hand washing.