Letter from Louise Pearce to Michael Heidelberger

Letter from Louise Pearce to Michael Heidelberger

Contributor(s):
Pearce, Louise
Heidelberger, Michael
Publication:
Produced: 17 July 1920
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Trypanosomiasis, African
Genre(s):
Archival Materials
Letters (correspondence)
Abstract:
In 1919, Heidelberger and Walter A. Jacobs synthesized a variant of the aromatic arsenical Salvarsan, Paul Ehrlich's "magic bullet" for syphilis, which proved effective against trypanosomes, the parasites that cause African sleeping sickness. They called it tryparsamide. Louise Pearce conducted the successful (and to her own health, risky) human field trials of tryparsamide in the Belgian Congo, a colonial region of Africa in which the disease was endemic. In this letter she described her voyage to Africa, the conventional treatment for the disease administered in the local hospital in Leopoldville (today Kinshasa), and Pearce's efforts to enlist sick patients for the trial.
Copyright:
This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use.
Extent:
2 pages
NLM Unique ID:
101584940X217 (See in Profiles in Science)
Profiles in Science ID:
DHBBNQ
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X217
Archival Collection:
The Michael Heidelberger Papers (Profiles in Science)