Istoricul diagnosticului bacteriologic

Abstract

The study of the historical sources showed that, until the 18th century, medicine was dominated by idealist concepts. In the second part of the 19th century, microbiology became a independent science. Microbes have been observed the first time by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, but a huge step forward was done by the epochal discoveries of the French scientist Louis Pasteur, who could determine the relation of causality between microbes and infections, founding the „theory of germs”. A very important contribution was also that of the German doctor Robert Koch who has confirmed, in his postulates, the observations of Pasteur, has discovered and cultivated agents of some infectious diseases and has introduced new techniques of diagnosis. In this period several researchers have contributed to the development of the scientific bacteriology. In the 20th century, there were made important progresses regarding the introduction of the electronic microscopy and the techniques with radioactive isotopes. Also, the use of genetic engineering has opened new perspectives. In our days, a tendency for the modernization and standardization of the bacteriological diagnostic can be observed.