CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.
Today’s History Feature:
Prof. Georges Fernand Widal
(Mar 9, 1862 – Jan 14, 1929)
💠French Physician
His contributions…
🔹Georges Fernand Widal was born in Algeria. His father was a Medical Inspector for the French army.
🔹Widal studied medicine in Paris and earned his doctorate in 1889. After his studies, he began his career as a Professor of Internal Pathology and as a Professor of Clinical Medicine in 1913.
🔹In fact, he became famous for his bedside teachings and studies at Cochin Hospital in Paris, where he served the last 25 years of his life.
🔸 Discovery of Typhoid Bacillus
🔹It happened in 1880, when Dr. Karl Joseph Eberth, a German pathologist first discovered the rod-shaped bacteria in fatal cases of typhoid fever, in spleen, lymph nodes and peyer’s patches.
🔹After 4 years, Dr. Eberth along with German Pathologist Dr. Georg Gaffky isolated and obtained the culture of typhoid bacillus in 1884. The bacilli were named as “Eberthella typhi“, “Eberth’s bacillus” or “Gaffky-Eberth bacillus.”
🔹Exactly after 12 years of discovery of typhoid bacillus Dr. Widal did an investigation on the pathogenesis of the typhoid fever.
🔹In cooperation with Dr. Andre Chantemesse, who was a French Bacteriologist, Dr. Widal discovered the agglutination test that bears his name – Widal Agglutination Test – in 1896. Thereby, Dr. Widal became one of the Founders of Serodiagnosis.
🔹Furthermore, he worked in several areas of medicine such as shock, asthma and immunization.
🔹Prof. Widal then got interested in the study of nephritis. He assessed the prognosis of kidney disease based on blood Non- Protein Nitrogen (NPN) levels.
🔹Subsequently, he demonstrated that Edema is due to salt retention and further he recommended to reduce the intake of salt in edematous patients and protein in azotemic patients.
🔹His Eponyms…
🔅 Widal test
🔅 Hayem-Widal syndrome or Acquired Haemolytic Anaemia (Described along with French Haematologist Georges Hayem).
🔅 Fernand Widal syndrome – A triad of nasal polyposis, asthma and aspirin sensitivity.
🔹In order to honour his service, The Art Deco Monument designed in the wall of the Cochin Teaching Hospital in Paris to remember the fabulous work of Prof. Fernand Widal.
A Day to Commemorate…
A Physician who Devoted his Whole Life to Clinical Teaching and Research
Prof. Georges Fernand Widal 🙏🏼
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Medical science grows by dedicating the whole life to clinical teaching and research projects.This is the truth .