The 100th anniversary of Armauer Hansen's (1841-1912) death.

摘要

February 13th 2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Dr. Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen. His discovery of Mycobacterium leprae (also called Hansen-Bazillus/Morbus Hansen/Hanseatis after him) in the 1870's marked the beginning of the bacteriological study of leprosy and provided an important impetus for research. After extensive studies dating back to the mid-19th century, Danielssen and Boeck had argued that leprosy was not just a dermatological disease but also affected the internal organs. They made the first observations of what Hansen later identified as Mycobacterium leprae, the bacteria causing leprosy. When Hansen published his results in 1874, both the bacteriological knowledge and the technology used for this research was still in its infancy. The work of Danielssen and Boeck enjoyed great authority among their contemporaries, which was attributed also to the reputation of these two scientists. Hansen's discovery was based on the theory that leprosy is not hereditary, but transferable - at the time an unusual idea. The long incubation period (average 5 years), and therefore irreconstructible pathways, had given the impression that leprosy was a hereditary disease. Hansen was forced to vigorously defend his thesis of the contagiousity of leprosy. Particularly the followers of the heredity theory, including Daniel Danielssen, his mentor manager, and father-in-law, initially criticised him.