We now know that various species of mosquitoes transmit many parasitic and viral diseases. But Scottish physician
Patrick Manson (1844-1920) was the first scientist to prove the link between mosquitoes and illnesses.
In the 1800s, the English were believed that the overpowering odour of sewage from the River Thames (similar to the stench from Bagmati River today), led to diseases like cholera, typhoid, and plague. Even scientists thought diseases were caused by misasma (bad smell). Manson’s discovery that mosquitoes transmitted the organism that caused filiariasis (which may lead to elephantiasis or hatipaila in Nepali) was, therefore, nothing less than revolutionary. He was also the first person to hypothesise that malaria was caused by mosquitoes and not miasma.
Manson, who is considered the father of tropical medicine, started his career in Formosa, Taiwan where he studied filariasis. His seminal book, Tropical Diseases, is the bible in the field.
Even after returning to the UK, Manson continued to pursue the discipline. He gave regular talks on the diseases encountered in the East. British medical personnel on leave in the 19th and early 20th century were made to attend his lectures. These were probably the first continuing medical lectures (CME) that doctors now have to participate in order to keep their medical certification up-to-date. The idea was that learning about Manson’s experiences would help in the prevention and management of diseases in the ‘servants of the empire’.
Diseases that are common in Nepal even today formed the basis of many of Manson’s lectures. They ranged from malaria, amebic live abscess, elephantiasis, typhoid fever to a whole host of other common problems such as worm infestations and other bacterial infections.
Regular trade, efficient administration, and agricultural production were severely hampered by tropical diseases. And the bureaucracy in the UK felt that tropical medicine was an essential component of British economic development in the tropics. Cynics called this ‘colonial science’.
Many of the tropical diseases of today were also present in Europe at the time of Manson. In fact, even William Shakespeare (1628-1688) was well aware of malaria in England.“He is so shak’d by the burning quotidian tertian that it is most lamentable to behold,” writes Shakespeare in The Life of King Henry V. Fevers especially malaria are described in terms of how intermittently they appear (tertian fever is a kind of fever in malaria denoting the fevers appearance every 48 hours).
But even if these tropical diseases were present in Europe at that time, the sheer scale of the problem in Asia and Africa was far greater. So even to protect British citizens serving the empire in faraway places, the bureaucracy decided to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and teaching skills of Manson.
In 1897 Manson was appointed the medical officer to the Colonial Office. A school of tropical medicine in London was established. With the Scotsman at the helm, tropical diseases were now properly studied and this enhancement of knowledge also helped people in the regions where the disease emanated in the first place. Clearly, Manson so revolutionised the understanding and teaching of tropical diseases that its positive impact is felt even today.