Pearl Dunlevy
Dr. Pearl Dunlevy | |
---|---|
Born | Bridget Margaret (Pearl) Mary Dunlevy 13 August 1909 Donegal, Ireland |
Died | 3 June 2002 Dublin, Ireland | (aged 92)
Nationality | Irish |
Occupation | Physician |
Dr Pearl Dunlevy (13 August 1909 – 3 June 2002), was an Irish physician and epidemiologist working on TB and was the first woman president of the Biological Society of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.[1]
Early life and career
Born to George Dunlevy and Maggie Doherty, in
Moving to the UK Dunlevy worked in a number of British hospitals:
- 1932–1933 House physician, Eye Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- 1933 House physician and surgeon, Nuneaton General Hospital
- 1933-1934 Resident surgical officer, Birmingham Children's Hospital
- 1934 Medical officer, Sydenham Children's Hospital, London
- 1934–1935 House surgeon, Standon Hall Orthopaedic Hospital, Staffordshire.
Tuberculosis in Children
Returning to Ireland in 1936 Dunlevy graduated in first place from
In 1947, having been appointed a Dublin Corporation TB officer, Dunlevy toured Norway, Denmark and Sweden with three medical colleagues from Dublin Corporation's TB service to investigate the success of the BCG vaccine. By this time she had begun an x-ray and testing program to assess the infection rates and find where infection was most frequently sourced. The following year she was appointed assistant medical officer for Dublin city. She pointed out at the time that medical staff were paid less for tuberculin testing of patients than veterinarians were for the testing of cattle.[1][2][4][3]
Dunlevy had developed a reputation for rigour and organisation and was selected to pilot childhood BCG vaccination scheme in Dublin. Her skills ensured the schemes effectiveness. TB deaths in children and pregnant women had risen during the war and reached a peak in 1947. Vaccination schemes had been tried before but the war had interrupted progress. The new pilot programme began in October 1948. By 1949 childhood deaths had reduced by two thirds. Dunlevy's program focused on statistics and data which enabled them to target specific households and areas for both treatment and vaccination.[1][2][4][3]
James Deeny said that
- Dunlevy built up from nothing the highly efficient, beautifully organised Dublin scheme, which ran like clockwork, was availed of widely, produced no unfavourable incidents, reduced childhood tuberculosis to vanishing point, and lowered dramatically the awful incidence of tuberculosis meningitis in babies in Dublin. All this was carried out during the very difficult postwar conditions in the city'
A planned children's sanatorium became unnecessary and was turned into an adult facility due to the success of the scheme. Once the scheme was extended to include newborns at maternity hospitals the reduction in children's deaths from TB was over 82%.[1][2][4][3]
Those doctors who followed the Scandinavian models saw impressive results. Those who took their lead from Britain were less successful. The new Department of Health, the state's chief medical officer James Deeny and minister for health,
Later career
During her role as senior assistant chief medical officer in the Dublin Health Authority infectious diseases gradually receded. One of the last major schemes in which she was involved was the
Dunlevy was now an international expert in childhood epidemiology and published papers in the
Dunlevy was deeply involved in the associations related to her expertise. She was president of the Biological Society of the RCSI in 1952, president of the
Personal life
Dunlevy's elder sister Annie ('Nan') Josephine Dunlevy (1903–88), also graduated from the RCSI and practised as a psychiatrist in Donegal and Dublin. She also lectured in anatomy at the RCSI. She lived for many years at various Dublin addresses with her sister. She was the aunt of museum curator and costume expert Mairéad Dunlevy.[1][2][4][3]
Dunlevy had a long time companion Kathleen Hughes. She died 3 June 2002 in Dublin, and was buried in Shanganagh Cemetery.[1][2][4][3]
Further reading
- Pearl Dunlevy papers, RCSI archives
- Dorothy Price papers, MSS Dept., TCD Library
- Donegal News, 21 May 1932
- Ir. Times, 23 June 1936, 25 June 1998, 4/15 June 2002
- Ir. Press, 22 July 1947
- Ir. Independent, 15 Jan 1949, 26 June 2001
- M. Dunlevy, 'Lowered tuberculosis death rates in Dublin children', Journal of the Medical Association of Éire (Apr. 1949)
- ead., 'Infant BCG vaccination', British Medical Journal (13 Mar. 1954)
- James Deeny, Tuberculosis in Ireland: report of the national tuberculosis survey (1950–52) ([1954]), 233–5
- M. Dunlevy, 'Tuberculosis meningitis after BCG', British Medical Journal (27 Dec. 1958)
- ead., 'Vagaries of BCG-induced tuberculin allergy', Postgrad Medical Journal, xl, no. 81 (1964)
- ead., 'Striking success of Dublin vaccination programmes', Irish Medical Times, 14 Dec. 1973
- Irish medical and hospital directory (1976), 140
- Irish Medical Times, 29 Sept. 1979 * 26 Feb., 18 June 1982
- Alan Browne (ed.), Masters, midwives and ladies-in-waiting: the Rotunda hospital 1745–1995 (1995)
- Commission to inquire into child abuse: third interim report (Dec. 2003)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "The Dictionary of Irish Biography".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Dr. Pearl Dunlevy (1909 – 2002)". - RCSI women. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Played major role in the fight against TB". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ PMID 27158161.
- ISBN 978-0-7171-6359-5.