Charles Nicolle

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Overview

Charles Jules Henry Nicolle (September 21, 1866 Rouen - February 28, 1936) was a French bacteriologist who earned the 1928 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his identification of lice as the transmitter of epidemic typhus.

Biography

He learned about biology early from his father Eugène Nicolle, a doctor at a Rouen hospital. He received his M.D. in 1893 from the Pasteur Institute. At this point he returned to Rouen, as a member of the Medical Faculty until 1896 and then as Director of the Bacteriological Laboratory.

In 1903 Nicolle became Director of the Pasteur Institute, where he did his Nobel Prize-winning work on typhus. He was still director of the Institute when he died in 1936.

He also wrote fiction and philosophy through his life, including the books Le Pâtissier de Bellone, Les deux Larrons, and Les Contes de Marmouse.

He married Alice Avice in 1895, and had two children, Marcelle (b. 1896) and Pierre (b. 1898).

Accomplishments

Nicolle's major accomplishments in bacteriology were:

• The discovery of the transmission method of typhus fever
• The introduction of a vaccination for Malta fever
• The discovery of the transmission method of tick fever
• His studies of cancer, scarlet fever, rinderpest, measles, influenza, tuberculosis and trachoma.

During his life Nicolle wrote a number of non-fiction and bacteriology books, including Le Destin des Maladies infectieuses; La Nature, conception et morale biologiques; Responsabilités de la Médecine, and La Destinée humaine.

Discovery of the Vector

Nicolle's discovery came about first from his observation that, while epidemic typhus patients were able to infect other patients inside and outside the hospital, and their very clothes seemed to spread the disease, they were no longer infectious when they had had a hot bath and a change of clothes. Once he realized this, he reasoned that it was most likely that lice were the vector for epidemic typhus.

In June 1909 Nicolle tested his theory by infecting a chimpanzee with typhus, retrieving the lice from it, and placing it on a healthy chimpanzee. Within 10 days the second chimpanzee had typhus as well. After repeating his experiment he was sure of it: lice were the carriers.

Further research showed that the major transmission method was not louse bites but excrement: lice infected with typhus turn red and die after a couple of weeks, but in the meantime they excrete a large amount of microbes. When a small quantity of this is rubbed on the skin or eye, an infection occurs.

Attempt at a Vaccine

Nicolle surmised that he could make a simple vaccine by crushing up the lice and mixing it with blood serum from recovered patients. He first tried this vaccine on himself, and when he stayed healthy he tried it on a few children (because of their better immune systems), who developed typhus but recovered.

He did not succeed in his effort to develop a practical vaccine. The next step would be taken by Rudolf Weigl in 1930.

References

• Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1922-1941 - Nobel Biography of Dr. Charles Nicolle
• How Charles Nicolle of the Pasteur Institute discovered that epidemic typhus is transmitted by lice: reminiscences from my years at the Pasteur Institute in Paris by Ludwik Gross, August 6, 1996
• Pai-Dhungat, J V (2004). "Charles Nicolle (1866-1936) postal stamps released on Nicolle in France - 1969, Gambia - 1989, on "Scrub typhus" - Malaysia 1976". The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India. 52: 896. PMID 15906842.
• Rodhain, François (2004). "[Respect for natural conditions in experimentation. Marcel Baltazard in the lineage of Charles Nicolle]". Bulletin de la Société de pathologie exotique (1990). 97 Suppl: 33–42. PMID 15818844.
• Raju, T N (1998). "The Nobel chronicles. 1928: Charles Jules Henry Nicolle (1866-1936)". Lancet. 352 (9142): 1791. PMID 9848391.
• Szĺlási, A (1998). "[The "mysterious" role of the clothes louse and its exposure (Charles Nicolle)]". Orvosi hetilap. 139 (36): 2146–8. PMID 9776661.
• Pelis, K (1997). "Prophet for profit in French North Africa: Charles Nicolle and the Pasteur Institute of Tunis, 1903-1936". Bulletin of the history of medicine. 71 (4): 583–622. PMID 9431737.
• Gross, L (1996). "How Charles Nicolle of the Pasteur Institute discovered that epidemic typhus is transmitted by lice: reminiscences from my years at the Pasteur Institute in Paris". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93 (20): 10539–40. PMID 8855211.
• Moulin, A M. "[Charles Nicolle, Tunisian savant]". Archives de l'Institut Pasteur de Tunis. 71 (3–4): 355–70. PMID 8801829.
• Eyquem, A. "[Homage to Charles Nicolle. Birth, eclipse and resurgence of the concept and diseases caused by autoimmunization]". Archives de l'Institut Pasteur de Tunis. 64 (1–2): 5–14. PMID 3307666.
• Chadli, A (1986). "[Charles Nicolle and the accomplishments of his scientific thought]". Archives de l'Institut Pasteur de Tunis. 63 (1): 3–14. PMID 3535708.
• Brumpt, L (1986). "[The work of Charles Nicolle in protozoology]". Bull. Acad. Natl. Med. 170 (2): 293–9. PMID 3527370.
• Roux, J (1986). "[Human vaccination against brucellosis (Charles Nicolle)]". Bull. Acad. Natl. Med. 170 (2): 289–92. PMID 3527369.
• Fuseillier, H (1986). "[Thoughts and personality of Charles Nicolle]". Bull. Acad. Natl. Med. 170 (2): 281–7. PMID 3527368.
• Chadli, A (1986). "[Charles Nicolle and the results of his scientific thoughts]". Bull. Acad. Natl. Med. 170 (2): 273–80. PMID 3527367.
• Turiaf, J (1986). "[Introductory remark (50th anniversary of the death of Charles Nicolle 1866-1936)]". Bull. Acad. Natl. Med. 170 (2): 271–2. PMID 3527366.
• Nicolle, P. "[Alphonse Laveran and Charles Nicolle]". Archives de l'Institut Pasteur de Tunis. 58 (3): 265–79. PMID 7032436.
• Nicolle, P. "[A major event in the exciting life of Charles Nicolle: the Nobel Prize of Physiology or Medicine. Reminiscences by Pierre Nicolle]". Bulletin de la Société de pathologie exotique et de ses filiales. 74 (1): 101–18. PMID 7028293.
• "Charles Nicolle (1866-1936), bacteriologist". JAMA. 209 (2): 262–3. 1969. PMID 4891929.
• Yoell, M (1967). "Charles Nicolle and the frontiers of medicine". N. Engl. J. Med. 276 (12): 670–5. PMID 5335090.
• Martínez Báez, M. "[Remembrance of Charles Nicolle]". Salud pública de México. 9 (2): 337–43. PMID 4881017.
• Mooser, H (1966). "[Charles Nicolle, 1866-1936]". Schweizerische medizinische Wochenschrift. 96 (52): 1755–7. PMID 5340010.
• Chabaud, M A (1966). "[Centennial of Charles Nicolle (1866-1936)]". Maroc médical. 45 (497): 799–808. PMID 4866964.
• Metelkin, A I (1966). "[Charles Nicolle (on the 100th anniversary of his birth)]". Veterinariia. 43 (11): 117–9. PMID 4877792.
• Baltazard, M (1966). "[Heritage of Charles Nicolle]". La Presse médicale. 74 (42): 2177–80. PMID 5333214.
• Blanc, F. "[Charles Nicolle and exanthematous typhus]". Médecine tropicale : revue du Corps de santé colonial. 26 (5): 465–76. PMID 5341646.
• Diacono, H. "[Charles Nicolle, 1866-1936. The man--his work--his message]". Biologie médicale. 55 (5): 437–56. PMID 4227736.
• Giroud, P. "[Eulogy of Charles Nicolle]". Bulletin de la Société de pathologie exotique et de ses filiales. 59 (4): 442–53. PMID 4863480.
• Balozet, L (1966). "[Charles Nicolle (1866-1936)]". Marseille médical. 103 (10): 737–43. PMID 5335347.
• DUPUY, A (1955). "[Charles Nicolle, the writer and the man of truth.]". La Presse médicale. 63 (59): 1205–6. PMID 13266746.
• DUPUY, A (1955). "[Charles Nicolle; the literary work of a dreaming man.]". La Presse médicale. 63 (56): 1149–50. PMID 13254660.

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