The Centenary of the Leprosy Relief Association (Lepra)-a moment for celebration and reflection†.

The year 2024 is the Centenary of the foundation of the Leprosy Relief Association (Lepra), formerly the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association (BELRA). The name of the organization changed to the LEProsy Relief Association (LEPRA) in 1976 but has been known as Lepra since 2008. Over the years it has worked closely with members and office holders of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Its work has encompassed activities from the earliest initiatives to ensure appropriate living conditions for those with the disease to the development of leprosy chemotherapy. However, this has now evolved into a strong partnership between the UK- and India-based Lepra hubs, which are carrying out research and public health initiatives ranging from elimination of prejudice against those with leprosy to adopting the recently launched WHO programme for skin NTDs to facilitate integrated control and management regimens. The fight against leprosy has always been a partnership between a wide variety of disease-specific NGOs, health-care workers and international health agencies. The story of Lepra illustrates the central role of these partnerships and national as well as international collaboration.

A medical enigma : what "gale chinoise (Chinese scabies)" meant 150 years ago.

CONTEXT: The meaning of the term "gale chinoise" mentioned in some articles about French overseas territories in the 19th century, remains unclear. In response to a query of an American colleague dermatologist trying to find out what it meant 150 years ago, we attempted to elucidate the nature of this ancient disease, which today would be translated literally as Chinese scabies. METHOD: We submitted the query to a panel of civilian and military French tropical medicine specialists including dermatologists, through two networks : Association Amicale Santé Navale et d'Outre-Mer and Société de Pathologie Exotique. RESULTS: Very few answers were received from the approximately 400 colleagues in these networks. They mentioned : ciguatera, other types of ichtyosarcotoxism, smallpox, and leprosy. Several said they never encountered this term during many years spent in French Polynesia, and none was able to find irrefutable proof of their suggestion. Discussion and conclusion. Leprosy, smallpox, ciguatera? The identity of "gale chinoise" remains an enigma ; it might have been intended to designate several different diseases.

Malaria and quinine resistance: a medical and scientific issue between Brazil and Germany (1907-19).

This article addresses the discussion about quinine-resistant malaria plasmodium in the early decades of the twentieth century. Observed by Arthur Neiva in Rio de Janeiro in 1907, the biological and social resistance of malaria sufferers to preventive and curative treatment with quinine was corroborated three years later by Oswaldo Cruz during the construction of the Madeira-Mamoré Railway in the Brazilian Amazon. Likewise in 1910, ailing German workers were transferred from Brazil to Hamburg's Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases, where quinine resistance was confirmed by Bernard Nocht and Heinrich Werner. When the First World War saw failures in treating and preventing malaria with quinine along with violent outbreaks of the disease on the Turkish and Balkan fronts, resistance to this alkaloid became the topic of the day within the field of experimental medicine in Germany. New attempts were made to account for the resistance, especially by the physician Ernst Rodenwaldt, who explored the topic by applying modern theories on heredity. The present article offers a preliminary survey and analysis of pronouncements about quinine resistance, shedding new light on the circulation of knowledge in the field of tropical medicine.

[A Brazilian medical collection: Central Brazil in Arthur Neiva and Belisário Penna's scientific expedition and Julio Paternostro's voyage to Tocantins]. / Uma brasiliana médica: o Brasil Central na expedição científica de Arthur Neiva e Belisário Penna e na viagem ao Tocantins de Julio Paternostro.

The article addresses the role played within the social imaginary of Brazil by the scientific voyages of physicians in the first half of the twentieth century. Two texts are analyzed: a report by Arthur Neiva and Belisário Penna published in Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz and another by Julio Paternostro, released in 1945 in Viagem ao Tocantins. The former contributed to singling out pathology as defining mark of national identity during the First Republic (1899-1930), a fact that had repercussions in the following decades, as apparent in Paternostro's book, which at the time of its publication was presented as an indictment of national problems. These portraits of Brazil highlight as attributes of the country not only disease but also the geographic and, primarily, cultural distance separating the coast from the sertão.

Uma brasiliana médica: o Brasil Central na expedição científica de Arthur Neiva e Belisário Penna e na viagem ao Tocantins de Julio Paternostro / A Brazilian medical collection: Central Brazil in Arthur Neiva and Belisário Penna's scientific expedition and Julio Paternostro's voyage to Tocantins

Aborda o papel das viagens científicas realizadas por médicos, durante a primeira metade do século XX, na imaginação social sobre o Brasil. Com esse objetivo, são analisados dois textos: o relatório de Arthur Neiva e Belisário Penna, publicado em Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, e o de Julio Paternostro, que veio a público em 1945 no livro Viagem ao Tocantins. O primeiro contribuiu para que se apontasse a patologia como marca definidora da identidade nacional durante a Primeira República (1899-1930). Esse fato teria repercussões nas décadas seguintes, como se verificou com relação ao livro de Paternostro, apresentado na época de sua publicação como obra de denúncia dos problemas nacionais. Além das doenças, a distância não apenas geográfica, mas sobretudo cultural entre litoral e sertão são os atributos ressaltados nesses retratos do Brasil.

The article addresses the role played within the social imaginary of Brazil by the scientific voyages of physicians in the first half of the twentieth century. Two texts are analyzed: a report by Arthur Neiva and Belisário Penna published in Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz and another, by Julio Paternostro, released in 1945 in Viagem ao Tocantins. The former contributed to singling out pathology as the defining mark of national identity during the First Republic (1899-1930), a fact that had repercussions in the following decades, as apparent in Paternostro's book, which at the time of its publication was presented as an indictment of national problems. These portraits of Brazil highlight as attributes of the country not only disease but also the geographic and, primarily, cultural distance separating the coast from the sertão.

A viagem científica de Neiva e Penna: roteiro para os estudos das doenças do sertão / The scientific journey taken by Neiva and Penna: a blueprint for studies of diseases from the Brazilian hinterland

Analisa o relatório de Arthur Neiva e Belisario Penna , focalizando a contribuição dos autores ao estudo de uma das doenças endêmicas por eles encontrada ao longo de todo o trajeto percorrido, de longa data conhecida popularmente por 'mal de engasgo'. Observaram e descreveram com minúcia os sintomas apresentados pelos doentes e a associação frequente do mal de engasgo com outro mal endêmico conhecido por 'vexame' ou 'vexame do coração', que consistia em crises de palpitações. Os estudos epidemiológicos e clínicos de Neiva e Penna sobre o mal de engasgo muito contribuíram para o conhecimento dessa afecção e representaram um incentivo para todos os pesquisadores que se dedicaram ao seu estudo, especialmente quanto a sua relação com a doença de Chagas.

Analyze the report by Neiva and Penna, focusing on the contribution these authors made to the study of one of the endemic diseases encountered throughout their journey, which had been long known under the popular name of mal de engasgo (choking disease). They recorded their observations and detailed descriptions of the patients' symptoms and the association frequently encountered between mal de engasgo and another endemic disease, known as vexame or vexame do coração, characterized by bouts of palpitations. Neiva and Penna's epidemiological and clinical observations of mal de engasgo were crucial for all the researchers interested in the disease, especially its relationship with Chagas disease.

Uma brasiliana médica: o Brasil Central na expedição científica de Arthur Neiva e Belisário Penna e na viagem ao Tocantins de Julio Paternostro / A Brazilian medical collection: Central Brazil in Arthur Neiva and Belisário Penna's scientific expedition and Julio Paternostro's voyage to Tocantins

Aborda o papel das viagens científicas realizadas por médicos, durante a primeira metade do século XX, na imaginação social sobre o Brasil. Com esse objetivo, são analisados dois textos: o relatório de Arthur Neiva e Belisário Penna, publicado em Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, e o de Julio Paternostro, que veio a público em 1945 no livro Viagem ao Tocantins. O primeiro contribuiu para que se apontasse a patologia como marca definidora da identidade nacional durante a Primeira República (1899-1930). Esse fato teria repercussões nas décadas seguintes, como se verificou com relação ao livro de Paternostro, apresentado na época de sua publicação como obra de denúncia dos problemas nacionais. Além das doenças, a distância não apenas geográfica, mas sobretudo cultural entre litoral e sertão são os atributos ressaltados nesses retratos do Brasil.(AU)

Adolpho Lutz and the origins of medical entomology in Brazil

It shows how Adolpho Lutz (1855-1940) formed a bridge between the Bahian Tropicalist School and post-Mansonian medicine.(AU)

Adolpho Lutz: obra completa / Adolpho Lutz: complete works

Após introduçäo sobre a formaçäo de Adolpho Lutz e sua capacitaçäo como cientista, analisa alguns trechos de relatórios do Instituto Bacteriológico de 1893 a 1908; o parecer de Adolpho Lutz sobre um soro proposto para o tratamento da febre amarela; o relatório sobre sua missäo em Montevidéu para verificar a provável "descoberta" do Dr. Sanarelli relativa ao micróbio da febre amarela; os trabalhos sobre a febre amarela em Säo Paulo e sobre o mosquito como seu agente de propagaçäo; a descoberta da malária silvestre; as instruções para profilaxia do impaludismo; e, finalmente, as suas "Reminiscências da febre amarela no Estado de Säo Paulo", publicadas em 1930, quando Adolpho Lutz já era pesquisador do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz havia mais de 20 anos. (AU)

Febre amarela, malária e protozoologia

Após introdução sobre a formação de Adolpho Lutz e sua capacitação como cientista, analisa alguns trechos de relatórios do Instituto Bacteriológico de 1893 a 1908; o parecer de Adolpho Lutz sobre um soro proposto para o tratamento da febre amarela; o relatório sobre sua missão em Montevidéu para verificar a provável 'descoberta' do Dr. Sanarelli relativa ao micróbio da febre amarela; os trabalhos sobre a febre amarela em São Paulo e sobre o mosquito como seu agente de propagação; a descoberta da malária silvestre; as instruções para profilaxia do impaludismo; e, finalmente, as suas 'Reminiscências da febre amarela no Estado de São Paulo', publicadas em 1930, quando Adolpho Lutz já era pesquisador do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz havia mais de 20 anos.

Disease in Africa: a medical perspective from the 1950s.

So much attention is focused on the current HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa that there is a tendency to overlook the grievous burden of disease from which the peoples of that Continent have suffered for centuries. This paper, based on letters sent in 1953/54 by a young doctor in Sierra Leone to his parents in Scotland, together with extracts from Makeni Hospital records of the same period, provides a factual account of front-line medicine in West Africa half a century ago.

[Adolpho Lutz: a biographical sketch]. / Adolpho Lutz: um esboço biográfico.

This article portrays the family origins and life story of Adolpho Lutz (1855-1940) up to his transfer to the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in 1908. His life history is used as a motif for an analysis of the institution of pasteurian and tropical medicine in Brazil. His university and postgraduate study in German-speaking Europe are examined, as are his activities as a clinician and researcher on subjects related to helminthology, parasitology, veterinary medicine and bacteriology in the interior of São Paulo state; his stay at the Molokai leprosarium in Hawaii; and the medical controversies in which he participated as head of the Bacteriological Institute of São Paulo, especially those on cholera, dysenteries, typhoid fever, malaria and yellow fever.

[Paths taken by Dr. Jorge Clarke Bleyer in the fields of tropical medicine and Brazilian prehistory]. / Caminhos percorridos pelo dr. Jorge Clarke Bleyer nos campos da medicina tropical e da pré-história Brasileira.

This research note presents a preliminary evaluation of the life history of Georg Carl Adolf Bleyer, physician, hygienist and naturalist who played a crucial role in the institution of public health in Santa Catarina and was a pioneer in tropical medicine, anthropology and archeology of Brazil. Adolpho Lutz was one of the main partners in Brazil of this equally multifacted physician who published important articles in German journals. His most thorough study was important to the history of the disciplines which which he worked; it provides the basis for understanding the conditions of medical and scientific practice in places far from the urban centers of southeastern Brazil that dominate the historiography of medicine and science.

[Adolpho Lutz and the history of tropical medicine in Brazil]. / Adolpho Lutz e a história da medicina tropical no Brasil.

This text presents an evaluation of the activities of the Adolpho Lutz project and a history of tropical medicine in Brazil: progress in the preparation of texts and Lutz's correspondence for publication, the description and treatment of components of his papers, which are found at the National Museum. Appendices include a list of posts, titles, awards and decorations received by Adolpho Lutz, his bibliography and a selection of letters received by him.

Adolpho Lutz: um esboço biográfico / Adolpho Lutz: a biographical sketch

Retrata as origens familiares e a trajetória de Adolpho Lutz (1855-1940) até sua transferência para o Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC), em 1908. Utiliza o cientista como fio condutor para a análise da instituiçäo das medicinas pasteuriana e tropical no Brasil. Examina seus estudos superiores e de aperfeiçoamento na Europa germânica, suas atividades como clínico e como investigador de temas relacionados à helmintologia, parasitologia, veterinária e bacteriologia no interior de Säo Paulo, sua estada no leprosário de Molokai, no Havaí, e controvérsias médicas de que participou durante o período em que chefiou o Instituto Bacteriológico de Säo Paulo, especialmente aqueles concernentes ao cólera, às disenterias, à febre tifóide, à malária e á febre amarela. (AU)

Adolpho Lutz e a história da medicina tropical no Brasil / Adolpho Lutz and the history of tropical medicine in Brazil

Apresenta um balanço das atividades do projeto sobre Adolpho Lutz e a história da medicina tropical no Brasil: o andamento da preparaçäo dos textos e da correspondência do cientista para publicaçäo, a descriçäo e o tratamento dos componentes de seu arquivo, que se acha sob a guarda do Museu Nacional. Traz como anexos a relaçäo dos cargos, títulos, prêmios e condecoraçöes de Adolpho Lutz, sua bibliografia e uma seleçäo de cartas recebidas por ele. (AU)

Adolpho Lutz and controversies over the transmission of leprosy by mosquitoes

Quando estudava na Suíça e Alemanha, Adolpho Lutz publicou os primeiros trabalhos sobre zoologia, clínica e terapêutica. Em Limeira, Säo Paulo, iniciou estudos sobre doenças humanas e animais causadas por germes e parasitas. Em 1885-86, viajou para Hamburgo para estudar microrganismos relacionados a doenças de pele sob a orientaçäo de Paul Gerson Unna, um dos mais renomados dermatologistas alemäes. Propôs a inclusäo dos bacilos de Hansen e Koch num novo gênero. Em 1889, Unna indicou seu discípulo como chefe dos serviços médicos dos Leprosário Molokai, no Havaí. Lutz passou a defender a transmissäo da doença por mosquitos. Realizou pesquisas para provar esta teoria depois que assumiu a chefia do Instituto Bacteriológico de Säo Paulo (1893-1908) e, sobretudo, após a transferência para o Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (1908-1940)... (AU)

The colonial world as mission and mandate: leprosy and empire, 1900-1940.

The history of medicine in twentieth-century empires has been dominated by studies of "imperial tropical medicine" (ITM) and its consequences. Historians have been fascinated by the work of medical scientists and doctors in the age of high imperialism, and there are many studies of medicine as a "tool of empire." This paper reviews work that explores colonial medicine as a broader enterprise than ITM in three spheres: missionary activity, modernization, and protection of the health and welfare of indigenous peoples. To illustrate the themes of mission and mandate, it discusses the development of policies to control leprosy in the tropical African and Asian colonies of Britain in the first half of this century, especially the work of the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association (BELRA). Although BELRA's efforts did little to change imperial medical and health agendas, they had an important impact locally and ideologically, and show how closely interwoven the themes of Christian caring, medical humanism, colonial development, and welfare policy had become by the outbreak of the Second World War.

Yellow fever, malaria and development: Atlantic Africa and the New World, 1647 to 1928

Malaria and yellow fever in the Atlantic world (Africa, the Caribbean, mainland America) are treated. In the evolution of these diseases, Development (involving the involuntary migration of millions of potential laborers from East to West) is found to be a principal motor force. As with leprosy in the nineteenth century, disease Constructs were important on shaping dominant peoples` attitutes. Construct yellow fever held that black Africans were immune to the disease. This mischievous understanding was taken to demonstrate that the Christian God had specially created them to serve as slaves in North, Meso- and South America. In Africa and Liverpool in the 1890s, British medical personnel further marginalized blacks by creating a malaria Construct.(AU)