During the 1854 cholera outbreak in Florence, Italy, Filippo Pacini documented that the cause of the infection was a bacterium. This conclusion was also independently reached by John Snow during the 1854 cholera outbreak in London. By using an epidemiological method, Snow found that the infection spread through a polluted water network. Snow identified a water pump as the source of the disease. After removing the infected handle of this pump, the cases of cholera rapidly began to decrease. A microscopic examination of the water showed organic impurities but no bacteria. This discovery was ignored during Snow’s lifetime. In contrast, through microscopy during the autopsies of cholera victims, Pacini observed that the disruption of their intestinal mucosa was closely associated with millions of the bacteria that he called Vibrio cholerae. Via histological techniques, Pacini detected that intestinal mucosa reabsorption dysfunction was the cause of debilitating diarrhoea, vomiting, severe dehydration and death. Nevertheless, his discovery of Vibrio cholerae was ignored during Pacini’s lifetime. A survey of Pacini’s autographic manuscripts suggests that Pacini and Snow may have shared mutual knowledge within their respective seminal papers. This survey also facilitates, for the first time, the creation of maps that illustrate the worldwide distribution of Pacini’s cholera papers from 1854 to 1881. The consistent neglect of Pacini’s discovery remains a true enigma.
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Biblioteque de l’Universitè de GandObservations microspiques et dèductions pathologiques sur le cholèra asiatique traduit de l’italien par le médecin de bataillon Raikem. Archives belges de mèdicine militaire Bruxelles: Biblioteque de l’Universitè de Gand; 1855
Catalogo dei CarteggiBiblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze, Carte Pacini, Filza 6, Vol. IX, Ins. VIII, Fascicolo 2, c. 346 (Germi Colerici, Snow) Firenze: Catalogo dei Carteggi; 1889
PaciniF. Du choléra asiatique au point de vue de sa cause spécifique, de ses conditions pathologiques et de ses indications thérapeutiques Bruxelles: Librairie Médicale de H. Manceaux; 1865
FarrW. Report on the cholera epidemic of 1866 in England: supplement to the twenty- ninth annual report of the registrar-general of births, deaths, and marriages in England by Great Britain London: G. E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode; 1868
PaciniF. Du processus morbide du choléra asiatique, de sa période de mort apparente et de la loi mathématique qui le régit, mémoire du Dr Philippe Pacini Marseille: Barlatier-Feissat; 1881
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