Five Nobel Prizes who influenced public health worldwide working on malaria, penicillin, DDT, transplantation immunity, HPV

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902 was awarded to Sir Ronald Ross for his work on the transmission of malaria.

The research work of Sir Ronald Ross helped:  

• establish the link between mosquitoes and malaria transmission, which allowed to develop prevention measures like mosquito control or insecticide use;
• identify potential targets for treatment and prevention, which lead to the development of antimalarial drugs;
• raise awareness of the disease and its impact, leading to increased funding and research in the field.

As a result of Ross's work and subsequent research on this subject, the incidence and mortality rates due to malaria reduced significantly in many parts of the world, even though the disease remains a major public health challenge, notably in developing countries.

References :

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902 was awarded to Ronald Ross “for his work on malaria, by which he has shown how it enters the organism and thereby has laid the foundation for successful research on this disease and methods of combating it”

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 was awarded to Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst Chain, and Sir Howard Florey for their discovery of penicillin and its potential as a cure for bacterial infections, which revolutionized the field of medicine and saved countless lives. Indirectly, penicillin also paved the way for the development of other antibiotics and other medical advances.

Relatively safe and well-tolerated with few serious side effects, penicillin helped:

• treat bacterial infections such as pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis, hereby reducing mortality due to these infections;
• treat infections like bacterial endocarditis or syphilis which were difficult or impossible to treat previously;
• reduce the need for more invasive or potentially dangerous treatments like surgery or other antibiotics.

References :

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945 was awarded jointly to Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey “for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases”

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1948 was awarded to Paul Müller for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.

This discovery led to the widespread use of DDT as a pesticide, which helped to control the spread of insect-borne diseases such as malaria and typhus.

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is a relatively inexpensive and easy to produce synthetic insecticide. It has been widely used since the second half of the 20th century to control the spread of insect-borne diseases such as malaria and typhus. DDT has helped:

• to eliminate insect-borne diseases such as malaria, typhus, and yellow fever, thereby saving millions of lives;
• to control the spread of insect-borne diseases without causing significant harm to humans, making it a safer alternative to many other insecticides.
• to increase crop yields, thereby helping improve food security and reduce malnutrition in the world;

Negative consequences of DDT  include its potential to harm non-target species as well as the development of resistance to the insecticide by some insect populations.

Nowadays, DDT is highly regulated and only used in limited circumstances when other control measures are not effective.

References :

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1948

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1948 was awarded to Paul Hermann Müller “for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods”

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1964 was awarded to Sir Peter Medawar for his work on transplantation immunity.

His research helped to understand the immune system's rejection of transplanted tissues and organs, leading to the development of effective immunosuppressive drugs that are used in organ transplantation.

References :

1. Billingham, R. E., Brent, L., & Medawar, P. B. (1953). ‘Actively acquired tolerance’of foreign cells. Nature, 172(4379), 603-606.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1960

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1960 was awarded jointly to Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet and Peter Brian Medawar “for discovery of acquired immunological tolerance”

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008 was awarded to Harald zur Hausen for his discovery of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as the cause of cervical cancer.

This discovery led to the development of HPV vaccines, which have the potential to prevent many cases of cervical cancer.

References :

• Harald zur Hausen. "Human papillomavirus infections: a major cause of human cancer." Journal of the National Cancer Institute 90.4 (1998): 690-698.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008 was divided, one half awarded to Harald zur Hausen “for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer”, the other half jointly to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier “for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus”

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