Preventing diseases

• Ignaz Semmelweis understood that infectious disease could be passed through direct contact, so he introduced hand washing
• Louis Pasteur showed that microorganisms causes diseases and developed vaccines
• Joseph Lister started using antiseptics to destroy pathogens before operations
• As microscopes improved, pathogens could be seen, which convinced people that they were here
• Hand washing: especially after using the toilet, before cooking, after contact with animal or person with infectious disease
• Disinfectants: using it on kitchen surfaces and toilets to reduce the number of pathogens
• Keeping raw meat away from food that is eaten uncooked to prevent the spread of pathogens
• Coughing or sneezing into a handkerchief or tissue
• Isolating infected individuals, for instance the ebola virus
• Destroying vectors (agent that transmits infectious disease), for instance mosquitos for malaria or rats for the plague
• Vaccination (a weakened version of the virus)