Charles Nicolle
Charles Nicolle | |
---|---|
French Tunisia | |
Alma mater | University of Paris |
Known for | Epidemic typhus |
Awards | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1928) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Bacteriology |
Institutions | Pasteur Institute of Tunis |
Charles Jules Henri Nicolle (21 September 1866 – 28 February 1936)
Family
Nicolle was born to Aline Louvrier and Eugène Nicolle in Rouen, France and was raised as part of a middle-class family that valued education.[2] He had two other siblings – his older brother, Maurice Nicolle (a medical microbiologist, professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and Director of the Bacteriological Institute of Constantinople), and his younger brother, Marcel Nicolle (an art critic).[2][1][3]
Nicole later married Alice Avice in 1895 and had two children, Marcelle (b. 1896) and Pierre (b. 1898), both of whom also went on to enter the medical field.[1][3]
Studies and career
The earliest educational influences on Nicolle were from his father, a
Directing the Pasteur Institute in Tunis
Before Nicolle took on the position of leading the Pasteur Institute in Tunis, the Pasteur Institute in Paris remained the predominant centre for research in France as it aimed to combine medical research, teaching, and public service (treatment of diseases) under Pastorian missionary principles.[6] However, under Nicolle’s guidance over the next 33 years, the 'sister' Institute in Tunis quickly became an international centre of its own for the production of vaccines used against infectious diseases and for medical research.[3][6]
Nicolle’s success in expanding the Pasteur Institute in Tunis lies primarily in his deviation from the traditional
During this time, Nicolle also undertook two major projects that would come to define his role in the scientific community – the discovery of the mode of transmission of typhus (an infectious disease prevalent throughout North Africa and the Mediterranean Basin at that time) and the production of vaccines.[2][6]
Discovery of the vector transmitting typhus
Nicolle's discovery came about first from his observation that, while epidemic typhus patients were able to infect other patients inside and outside the hospital, and their very clothes seemed to spread the disease, they were no longer infectious when they had had a hot bath and a change of clothes.
Because studying the transmission of typhus required that the parasite be alive (needed a human host), scientists were only able to study it during epidemic times.
An important finding from further research showed that the major transmission method was not louse bites but excrement: lice infected with typhus turn red and die after a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, they excrete a large number of microbes.[3][8] When a small quantity of this is rubbed on the skin or eye, an infection occurs.[3]
Nicolle’s work was not only influential in containing the typhus epidemics that occurred in the region but also helped scientists distinguish the typhus fever caused by lice from murine typhus, which is transmitted by fleas.[3]
Attempt at a vaccine
Nicolle surmised that he could make a simple
He did not succeed in his effort to develop a practical vaccine. The next step would be taken by Rudolf Weigl in 1930.[8]
Despite being unable to develop a vaccination against typhus, Nicolle did make several other key discoveries in the field of vaccination.[6] He was the first to determine that sodium fluoride was a good reagent to sterilize parasites (so that they are no longer infectious) while also preserving their structure (to use in vaccines).[6] Using this method, he developed vaccines for gonorrhea, some staphylococcal infections, and cholera.[6] These vaccines were not only used throughout France but were also sent worldwide.[6]
Accomplishments
Nicolle's major accomplishments in bacteriology and parasitology were:
- The discovery of the transmission method of typhus fever[3]
- The introduction of a vaccination for Malta fever[3]
- The discovery of the transmission method of tick fever[3]
- His studies of cancer, scarlet fever, rinderpest, measles, influenza, tuberculosis and trachoma.[2][3]
- Identification of the parasitic organism Ctenodactylus gundi), which is commonly found in AIDS patients[2]
- His study of the parasitic microorganism Leishmania tropica that caused the Oriental sore (a type of skin boil)[2]
Additional information
Major works
During his life Nicolle wrote a number of non-fiction and bacteriology books, including:
- Le Destin des Maladies infectieuses (1933)[1][3]
- La Nature, conception et morale biologiques (1934)[1][3]
- Responsabilités de la Médecine (1935)[1][3]
- La Destinée humaine (1936)[1][3]
He also wrote fiction and philosophy throughout his life, including:
Religious views
Baptized a
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Charle, Christophe; Telkes, Eva (1988). "74. Nicolle (Charles, Jules, Henri)". Publications de l'Institut national de recherche pédagogique. 3 (1): 193–195.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Dworkin, Jonathan; Tan, Siang Yong (2012). "Charles Nicolle (1866–1936): Bacteriologist and conqueror of typhus" (PDF). Singapore Medical Journal. 52: 764–765.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1928". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "The Lycée Corneille of Rouen". lgcorneille-lyc.spip.ac-rouen.fr. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "Hélène Sparrow (1891–1970) Biographical Sketch". 14 May 2014. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ S2CID 22248464.
- PMC 2819868.
- ^ PMID 8855211.
- ISBN 978-8888076560.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link