The pioneering work of Sir Almroth Wright, just outside Southampton, ultimately saved countless millions of lives - although his outdated views on female equality were contentious at the very least.
Nowadays his beliefs are controversial and offensive. He believed the woman's place was in the kitchen and even wrote a book named The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage.
He argued that women's brains were different from men's and not built to deal with complex social and public issues.
Read more: Images showing changes to Above Bar Street >>>
Despite this, he is held to be among the greatest medical researchers in history and his work continues to save people to this very day.
But, It was due to his unrelenting attitude spirit and headstrong ways that allowed him to overcome one of mankind's worst infections - typhoid fever.
In 1892, Almroth was made professor of pathology at the Army Medical School within Royal Victoria Military Hospital overlooking Southampton Water.
Sir Almroth, born in 1861 at Middleton Tyas, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, conducted significant research in Netley to develop a vaccine for typhoid.
Wright was a strong advocate for preventive medicine, and he believed that vaccines could be used to prevent a wide range of diseases.
His team of scientists and laboratory technicians, nicknamed “Wright’s Boys”, explored many important topics such as bacteriology and immunology.
Among their most notable accomplishments was creating an anti-typhoid inoculation that was used during the Boer War; however, only around 4 per cent of British troops voluntarily went through the process and almost 60,000 contracted typhoid - resulting in more than 9,000 deaths.
Following the war, an inquiry into anti-typhoid inoculation reported negatively which caused the Army to discontinue its use voluntarily.
Most developed countries saw declining rates of typhoid fever throughout the first half of the 20th century due to vaccinations and advances in public sanitation and hygiene, while antibiotics were introduced in 1942, greatly reducing mortality. Today, the incidence of typhoid fever in developed countries is around five cases for every one million people per year.
Sir Almroth, who went on to undertake other vital research work, died in April 1947.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel