Pierre Roux Research Paper

Pierre Roux was born in the province of Charente, France in 1853. Roux was a French physician and bacteriologist with various areas of study. His major studies included investigating cholera, chicken cholera, rabies, tuberculosis, and diphtheria. Roux was not alone in studying diphtheria. He met fellow bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin at the Pasteur institute of Paris. Yersin was born in Lavaux near Aubonne, Switzerland in 1863. Yersin studied much more that diphtheria in his time. He discovered Yersinia pestis, prepared serums against the plague in both humans and cattle, as well as studied cattle diseases such as tetanus, cholera, and small pox. Together Roux and Yersin were responsible for isolating the diphtheria toxin.
The earliest description of diphtheria was noted by Hippocrates in the seventh century B.C. In Europe and the US, during 1857-1900 diphtheria was commonly a death sentence. The mortality rates for those who contracted diphtheria were 1 in 1,000 per year and occasionally higher. Diphtheria became known as the tenth leading cause of death in the US in 1900. In Philadelphia alone, between 1860 and 1864, 1,928 people had died from diphtheria, most of whom were children 15 and under. During this
This disease is mainly found in children under the age of 15. When the respiratory system is infected, the most common location for growth is in the throat. There, the bacteria attach to the surface of the respiratory tissues, then produce and release its toxins where they are quickly absorbed into the body. Respiratory diphtheria is transmitted via close contact with anyone infected with the disease. Some people may not actually get the disease, but are still carrying the bacteria with them, making them capable of infecting others. The bacteria can also be spread when people cough or sneeze close to other