273 - 1832: Ricerche chimiche nel “Cholera Morbus”
Autore/i: G. Dall'Olio
Rivista: RIMeL - IJLaM, Vol. 1, N. 4, 2005 (MAF Servizi srl ed.)
1832: Chemical investigations in “cholera morbus”
At the very beginning of Asiatic cholera pandemia (1828-
1832) that reached Europe in 1831, the health authorities
not only set up all the steps to forestall the diffusion of the
disease but tried also to investigate its etiology. The simple
observation of blood was unhelpful and Wittstock, a Berlin
physician, was charged with the task to analyze the biological
fluids of patients suffering from cholera and to make
comparisons with the fluids of healthy people. The aim of
this paper is to present the chemical examinations described
in a paper published by Wittstock in the “Poggendorff ’s
Annals” in 1832, that was the first application of chemical
techniques to diagnosis. The paper will assess the employed
methods, the obtained results and the encountered
difficulties by this unknown but valiant pioneer of Clinical
Chemistry.