[Naval contributions at the beginning of the tropical medicine research in the 19th century].

Abstract

In the second half of the 19th century, the beginning of the research on tropical medicine was favored with contributions from shipping companies, like Dutch East India Company, being perhaps the most important of these its collaboration in the creation of the China Imperial Maritime Customs Service (1854-1950), imposed by consuls from England, France and USA, on the weak Chinese government in order to establish regular taxes in all its ports, soon expanding its functions with reports on tides, typhoons and weather, ending up creating a medical service in 1863 to detect epidemics and establish quarantines. This medical service published a Journal, the Imperial Maritime Customs Medical Reports, where they wrote distinguished investigators, such as Patrick Manson, Father of Tropical Medicine. We comment in some reports of this journal, to get an idea about its real importance in the development of tropical medicine.