See, this is an easy demonstration of the problem: germ theory (the idea that there are extremely tiny particles or organisms that transmit illness) existed as an idea for a thousand years, (Ibn Sina, from the 11th century, thought of a similar idea) but it was unproven, and there was no way to prove it.
People knew from ancient times that certain things, like contact with sick people, bodily fluids, dead bodies, or "dirty" things/things that smell bad, can make you sick, even if they didn't know precisely how. And they couldn't know. In order to prove that a microscopic organism was the cause of a disease, you wouldn't just have to be able to observe microorganisms. You'd have to identify that there are specific microorganisms that are found in people who get a specific disease, and that they are not found in healthy people, and that exposure to infectious material that contains those microorganisms can cause a healthy person to become sick.
We think of germ theory as being "so simple!" because the rituals of protecting from harmful microorganisms are culturally ingrained in us, and we have access to the technologies to perform them. But if you were sent back to medieval times, would you be able to come up with a way to purify dirty water on a scale that would work for everybody? Could you come up with a treatment that kills the fleas that cause bubonic plague? Would you even know how to clean the clothing or tools that people used daily without damaging the item? How do you sterilize a cup made of wood or pewter? How do you make sure the water you're washing your hands with is clean? Can you make enough soap to fulfill the needs of handwashing? How do you safely examine a patient if you don't have gloves? How do you make the cloth you're using to bind a wound sterile?
Meanwhile, you probably don't even know how to safely preserve food without refrigeration, how to dispose of human waste without toilets or running water, where to dig a well, how to recognize different parasites and diseases in farm animals, how to recognize spoilage in stored grain, or how to use medicinal herbs. That's a lot of medical knowledge medieval people would have had that you don't know because you don't need to know.
"Wash your hands with soap and water" we would tell everyone! But we ourselves don't even know how to make soap!
Humans have been cooking, digging latrines, disposing of dead bodies, setting rules and norms about which foods are good to eat, and using medicines since before the beginning of civilization. Those things are all health knowledge, but it is easy to take it for granted when you have access to soap and sewers that keep your poop separate from your drinking water and Lysol and borosilicate glass and little boxes inside your house that automatically make objects the appropriate amount hot or cold to get rid of microorganisms.
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