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DDT

(Encyclopedia)DDT or 2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1,-trichloroethane, chlorinated hydrocarbon compound used as an insecticide. First introduced during the 1940s, it killed insects that spread disease and fed on crop...

Sternberg, George Miller

(Encyclopedia)Sternberg, George Miller stûrnˈbərg [key], 1838–1915, American bacteriologist and surgeon-general of the U.S. army, b. Hartwick, N.Y., M.D. Columbia, 1860. He was assistant surgeon in the U.S. ar...

blood bank

(Encyclopedia)blood bank, site or mobile unit for collecting, processing, typing, and storing whole blood, blood plasma and other blood constituents. Most hospitals maintain their own blood reserves, and the Americ...

jaundice

(Encyclopedia)jaundice jônˈdĭs, jänˈ– [key], abnormal condition in which the body fluids and tissues, particularly the skin and eyes, take on a yellowish color as a result of an excess of bilirubin. During t...

Laveran, Charles Louis Alphonse

(Encyclopedia)Laveran, Charles Louis Alphonse shärl lwē älfôNsˈ lävəräNˈ [key], 1845–1922, French physician. While an army surgeon in Algiers he discovered (1880) the parasite that causes malaria and wro...

plasmodium

(Encyclopedia)plasmodium, name for a stage in the life cycle of a slime mold. Also, Plasmodium is the name given to the genus of the protozoan parasite that causes malaria. ...

drug resistance

(Encyclopedia)drug resistance, condition in which infecting bacteria can resist the destructive effects of drugs such as antibiotics and sulfa drugs. Drug resistance has become a serious public health problem, sinc...

communicable diseases

(Encyclopedia)communicable diseases, illnesses caused by microorganisms and transmitted from an infected person or animal to another person or animal. Some diseases are passed on by direct or indirect contact with ...

Sydenham, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sydenham, Thomas, 1624–89, English physician, called “the English Hippocrates.” He studied at Oxford and Montpellier, and practiced in London. His conceptions of the causes and treatments of epi...

Ross, Sir Ronald

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Sir Ronald, 1857–1932, English physician, b. Almora, India. He studied malaria in India as a member (1881–99) of the Indian Medical Service, was professor of tropical medicine at University ...