Doctors and medical students, who frequently did autopsies before going to the maternity ward, had unwittingly been transmitting the disease to expectant mothers during obstetric examinations or childbirth!
لهذا السبب ،‏ رجَّح سيميلويس وجود « سموم » في الجثث تنتقل الى المرأة الحامل وتصيبها بهذا المرض .‏