LONG THREAD
He is "the most successful vaccinologist in history", who saved lives than any other scientist ever.
Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) developed over 40 vaccines. Out of 14 vaccines routinely recommended in current vaccines, 8 those for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia and Haemophilus influenzae bacteria by him.
But, very few of us know about him. After Hilleman's death Ralph Nader wrote, "Yet almost no one knew about him, saw him on television, or read about him in newspapers or magazines. His anonymity, in comparison with Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jose Canseco, or an assortment of grade B actors, tells something about our society's and media's concepts of celebrity; much less of the heroic."
Maurice’s twin sister and mother died soon after his birth. His mother’s dying wish was to have his sister buried in her arms and to have Maurice raised by his aunt and uncle, Bob and Edith.
He was the first person in history to predict a pandemic. He realized in 1957, that an influenza pandemic had started in Hong Kong is soon to reach USA. The result was that he created a vaccine before the virus arrived in the U.S. Close to 70,000 deaths in the U.S. but Public health officials estimate that the number of deaths in the U.S. could have reached 1 million.
Dr. Hilleman who worked with E.R. Squibb & Sons and later with Merck & Co. used to ran his laboratory like a military unit, and he was the one in command. For a time, he kept a row of "shrunken heads" (actually fakes made by one of his children) in his office as trophies that represented each of his fired employees. His employees were fiercely loyal to him.
He was also the first person to combine viral vaccines when he created the MMR vaccine. With one shot, children could be protected against three diseases (measles, mumps, and rubella).
The story of the mumps vaccine is unique because Dr. Hilleman isolated the virus from his daughter, Jeryl Lynn, when she contracted mumps in 1963 and was able to make a safe and effective mumps vaccine. The same strain of mumps virus is used to make the mumps vaccine today. It is called the Jeryl Lynn strain.
Happy birthday Maurice Hilleman.
He is "the most successful vaccinologist in history", who saved lives than any other scientist ever.
Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) developed over 40 vaccines. Out of 14 vaccines routinely recommended in current vaccines, 8 those for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia and Haemophilus influenzae bacteria by him.
But, very few of us know about him. After Hilleman's death Ralph Nader wrote, "Yet almost no one knew about him, saw him on television, or read about him in newspapers or magazines. His anonymity, in comparison with Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jose Canseco, or an assortment of grade B actors, tells something about our society's and media's concepts of celebrity; much less of the heroic."
Maurice’s twin sister and mother died soon after his birth. His mother’s dying wish was to have his sister buried in her arms and to have Maurice raised by his aunt and uncle, Bob and Edith.
He was the first person in history to predict a pandemic. He realized in 1957, that an influenza pandemic had started in Hong Kong is soon to reach USA. The result was that he created a vaccine before the virus arrived in the U.S. Close to 70,000 deaths in the U.S. but Public health officials estimate that the number of deaths in the U.S. could have reached 1 million.
Dr. Hilleman who worked with E.R. Squibb & Sons and later with Merck & Co. used to ran his laboratory like a military unit, and he was the one in command. For a time, he kept a row of "shrunken heads" (actually fakes made by one of his children) in his office as trophies that represented each of his fired employees. His employees were fiercely loyal to him.
He was also the first person to combine viral vaccines when he created the MMR vaccine. With one shot, children could be protected against three diseases (measles, mumps, and rubella).
The story of the mumps vaccine is unique because Dr. Hilleman isolated the virus from his daughter, Jeryl Lynn, when she contracted mumps in 1963 and was able to make a safe and effective mumps vaccine. The same strain of mumps virus is used to make the mumps vaccine today. It is called the Jeryl Lynn strain.
Happy birthday Maurice Hilleman.
