Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2167

ALBERT LUDWIG SIEGMUND NEISSER (1855-1916) Ueber eine der Gonorrhoe eigentümliche Micrococcusform. (In Centralblatt für die medicinischen Wissenschaften. Vol. 17 (1879), no. 28, pp. 497-500.) 22.7 cm.

The most significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of venereal diseases were made in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The contributions of Neisser, a German-born physician educated at Breslau, to the study of gonorrhea and syphilis played a major role in this activity. Neisser was well-prepared for research in venereology having studied and trained under Heidenhain, Kohnheim, Ehrlich, Weigert, and Koch. It was known that a microscopic agent was the cause of gonorrhea and syphilis, and, in 1879, after only two years of investigation, Neisser discovered the causative organism of gonorrhea. His research and experimentation are described in the present paper in which he used the name "micrococcus" to describe the bacterium. In 1882, after additional study and research, he renamed the bacterium "gonococcus." Although his discovery was extremely important, it was not until the advent of penicillin that this widespread disease could be controlled. Neisser also studied syphilis and discovered the Spirochaeta pallida while working in Java just after Schaudinn and Hoffmann had isolated it in Germany. Neisser also worked with Wassermann in developing the Wassermann test for syphilis (see No. 2253).

See Related Record(s): 2253

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 5208