Gerhard Hansen (Hanzen, Hansen, Hansen, Norwegian Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen ; July 29, 1841 - February 12, 1912 ) was a Norwegian physician known for discovering and identifying the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae in 1873 as an agent causing leprosy (leprosy) [1] [2] .
| Gerhard Hansen | |
|---|---|
| Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | July 29, 1841 |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | December 12, 1912 (71 year) |
| Place of death | Fleuryo , Floura , Sogn og Fjordane , Norway |
| A country | Norway |
| Scientific field | epidemiology |
| Alma mater | University of Oslo |
| Known as | The discoverer of the causative agent of leprosy (leprosy) |
| Awards and prizes | |
Biography
Hansen was born in Bergen ( Norway ) and studied medicine at Queen Frederick University (now the University of Oslo ), receiving a degree in 1866 as a result. He underwent a brief internship at the National Hospital in Christiania ( Oslo ) and as a doctor in the Lofoten Islands .
In 1868, Hansen returned to Bergen to study leprosy and began working together with expert in the field.
Leprosy was generally regarded as a hereditary or miasmatic disease. Based on epidemiological studies, Hansen concluded that leprosy is a disease with a specific cause [3] .
In 1870-1871 Hansen visited Bonn and Vienna to get the training needed to prove his hypothesis [4] .
In February 1873, Gerhard Hansen, looking at the patient's material under a microscope, suddenly saw tiny sticks in the cells. The research results were published in Norwegian. He announced the discovery of Mycobacterium leprae in the tissues of all patients, although he did not recognize them as bacteria and received little support [4] . Gerhard Hansen is now trying to color the bacilli so that they are clearly visible [5] .
In 1879, a young German scientist, Albert Neisser, came to Bergen to study leprosy. Hansen showed him the sick and his drugs and gave him tissue samples. Neisser successfully stained the bacteria and announced his findings in 1880, stating that he found the body causing the disease. He published the results in a German journal, but without mentioning Hansen, although he wrote that he had acquired his material in Bergen. This led to a serious dispute over the priority in the discovery of the leprosy bacillus. Now Hansen sent explanations to all European scientific journals in English, German and French. After a thorough analysis, the famous pathologist Rudolf Virchow resolved the dispute, concluding that it was Gerhard Hansen who should have priority in the discovery [5] .
Thanks to the efforts of Hansen in 1879, the free movement of patients with leprosy throughout the country was banned, and in 1885 he secured the adoption of a law providing for the mandatory isolation of patients with leprosy in hospitals or at home and systematic medical examinations of persons who came into contact with patients. This system showed such efficiency that it served as the basis for the legislation of many European countries regarding patients with leprosy [6] .
Notes
- ↑ Hansen GHA. Undersøgelser Angående Spedalskhedens Årsager (Norse) (Norve.) // Norsk Mag. Laegervidenskaben. - 1874. - V. 4 . - p . 1-88 .
- ↑ Irgens L. The discovery of the leprosy bacillus (Nor.) // Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen . - 2002. - Bd. 122 , nr. 7 - S. 708-709 . - PMID 11998735 .
- ↑ Irgens L. The discovery of Mycobacterium leprae. Amp; Am J Dermatopathol: journal. - 1984. - Vol. 6 , no. 4 - P. 337-343 . - PMID 6388392 .
- ↑ 1 2 Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen . whonamedit.com . The appeal date is March 22, 2007. Archived April 4, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Ole Didrik Lærum. Gerhard Armauer Hansen . NORSK BIOGRAFISK LEKSIKON .
- ↑ HANSEN Gerhard - Big Medical Encyclopedia . xn - 90aw5c.xn - c1avg. The appeal date is November 13, 2018.