The B'nai B'rith magazine · 1927-07-01 · 10 (7.1927) · p. Seite 413

Dr. Abraham Zingher—Martyr to Science (1885—1927) llsJfsJCllHEN the Lord visited E^ypt (fr/V/l) with the terrible tenth r¥&lr1 plague, the Children of Israel OTc cM@ were saved by the blood of gLgJp| the lamb, marking the doorl^w^M posts of the houses wherein they slept. It is a far cry from the Children of Israel, toiling in Egyptian bondage, to the Children of New York, rejoicing in the opportunities of the free schools. But, just as the blood of the lamb preserved the first-born of the Children of Israel from death from the plague, so the blood of animals, applied in the form of anti-toxin and toxin-antitoxin mixtures, has saved thousands of children in New York and other cities from the dread plague of diphtheria. Diphtheria, until a few decades ago, was the commonest cause of death among children. Those who escaped suffocation, sudden death from heart failure, or toxemia with its myriad complications were left crippled for life with depleted energies and weakened hearts. More than one hundred and thirty-five deaths to every hundred thousand in the population of New York City represented the toll of diphtheria annually from 1890 to 1895. The discovery of diphtheria antitoxin by von Behring and Kitasato in the last decade of the nineteenth century was the most magnificent achievement in the history of modern medicine. Within five years the mortality from diphtheria had been cut in two and less than one score years after the discovery of antitoxin less than thirty per hundred thousand died annually of diphtheria, where previously more than four times that number had been sacrificed. But antitoxin could only be given after the dread disease had already developed, so often too late to save the child. To Dr. Abraham Zingher, working with that veteran of the fight against diphtheria, Dr. W. H. Park of the New York City Health Department, is due the credit for the completion of this modern miracle. By the application of the test for susceptibility to diphtheria devised by Bela Schick a few years before, and the production of active immunity by the injection of toxin-antitoxin mixtures suggested by von Behring, Dr. Zinger and his col- By Emil Bogen leagues, in scarcely a dozen years, reduced the mortality from diphtheria in the city of New.York in 1926 to only eight deaths in every hundred thousand in the population, the lowest in its history; and other cities, adopting the same methods, have completely eradicated the deadly menace to childhood. More than seventy-five hundred lives were thus saved last year in New York City alone by this marvelous conquest of diphtheria by modern medicine. Abraham Zingher was born in Roumania April 21, 1885, but emigrated to the United States while still a boy and graduated from Cornell University Medical School at the age of twentythree. After four years interneship and resident work at Mount Sinai Hospital, he became, in 1913, Bacteriologist and Assistant Director of the Bureau of Laboratories of the City of New York, and in this position until his untimely death he served the children of New York as no one else could. A number of case reports from Mount Sinai, some valuable experimental studies in infantile paralysis and its treatment, and a new simple method of blood transfusion in children, testify to his abilities and interests in the early years of his work. But it was in the control of diphtheria that Zingher made his greatest contribution. Starting with a number of studies made in collaboration with Doctors Park, Serota, Overton and Turrell on the Schick reaction for susceptibility to diphtheria and its practical applications under various conditions, he next proceeded to devise a new intracutaneous test for virulence of diphtheria bacilli, a simple outfit for distribution of toxin for the Schick test, and most important of all, a standard method of developing active immunity against diphtheria by the injection of small doses of mixtures of toxin and antitoxin. For more than a dozen years these studies were continued. The labor involved in this task was enormous, and the greatest scientific ability and integrity were required. The Schick test was proven to be an absolutely reliable guide to the degree of susceptibility of the individual to diphtheria, and active immunization against diphtheria by injections of toxin antitoxin mixtures was thoroughly established. The amount of toxin injected for these treatments was reduced to one-thirtieth of the amount previously required, with consequent increased safety and ease, but without any lowering of the protection derived from it. Toxoid and other preparations intended for such immunizing treatments were also carefully investigated. More than half a million children in New York City have received the innoculation which revealed whether they were susceptible to infection with the diphtheria bacillus", and hundreds of thousands of treatments have been given to overcome such susceptibility and make the subjects immune. By publications, lectures and demonstrations, Dr. Zingher carried his message to doctors all over the country, so that the same process is being repeated today all over the United States. Diphtheria was conquered. Scarlet fever was opened to intelligent control. The frequently contemned measles now demanded attention as the most important cause of sickness and death among children. All over the world scientists tackled the problem. Caronia in Italy, Degkwitz in Germany, Tunnicliff and Ferry in the Middle West, all presented possible solutions. The lives of hundreds of children depended on the correct working out of the various factors involved. Abraham Zingher could not remain content with the work that he had already accomplished. More remained to be done. There was more data to be gathered, tabulated, interpreted and evaluated. More work to do. And so while at work last month in his laboratory, where so much already had been done for the prevention of disease, surrounded by the material with which he hoped to solve still another important problem for the welfare of children, tired with the labors already accomplished, he failed to notice the leaking gas from an extinguished burner, and slept peacefully to his death. Forevermore the enthusiastic scientist, the gruff, restrained zealot, the sympathetic kindly lover of children, had ceased his labors. 413