THE GREAT NAMES OF HISTORY IN TROPICAL MEDICINE

Abstract

In the present talk, many great names of history in Japanese Tropical Medicine were mentioned. They were Drs. Yoshio Sawai, Manabu Sasa, Kanzen Teruya, Hachiro Sato, Yoshito Otsuji and others who worked with tropical medicine-related health problems/diseases such as, snake (Habu) bite, Tsutsugamushi disease, malaria, filariasis, schistosomiasis, paragonimiasis and other infectious or parasitic diseases. About 40 years ago, all these diseases were highly prevalent at country-wide in Japan and they were great public health problems, because of poor sanitary conditions and insufficient political atention. For example, snake (Habu) bite was one of the most serious health problem in subtropical regions of Japan, especially in Okinawa and Amami-Oshima islands. During 13 years from 1959 to 1971, 3,510 snake bite cases were reported from AmamiOshima island; the average fatality rate was 0.8% in the area. Dr. Yoshio Sawai, a microbiologist at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo was the person who hardly worked with the Habu bite. In 1952 he was appointed as Associate Professor and chief of the newlyestablished laboratory of biological products at the Institute. Antivenin productions including these for Habu venom was one of the traditional work in the institute. Naturally Dr. Sawai tried to develop more effective and useful Habu toxoid. He frequently visited Naze Health Center, AmamiOshima island and observed there many patients suffered from serious and aggressive Habu bites with severe necrosis at the site of snake bite. He started laboratory investigations to improve the treatment of Habu bite, together with his coworkers at the Institute. Their purified and lyophilized antivenin was favorable to decrease numbers of the severe cases of Habu bites when applied clinically at Amami-Oshima island. However, yearly occurrence of severe clinical cases were still found in the area, in spite of such a Dr. Sawai's untiring efforts. After analyzing many clinical cases of Habu bites, Dr. Sawai reached to the conclusion that there might be a limitation in their serum treatment against the snake bite, because the development of local lesions by the large amount of Habu venom was too rapid for the antivenin treatment to prevent. Then, in 1963, Dr. Sawai re-