Many would have heard his name - Sir Ronald Ross - in connection with the dreaded disease Malaria.He did a lot of research and proved that the disease was transmitted by the mosquitoes. He even got a Nobel prize. He was knighted. He was made the member of the Royal society of Medicine. He should have been the happiest person on the face of the earth. Was he? This is his true story giving details of his life and an insight into his personality.
He was born in India on 13 May 1857. He loved poetry and music.He passed his exam for the Royal Colllege Of Surgeons of England in 1874. His father's dream was to see him enter IMS in India at Madras which he reluctantly fulfilled. He was not too happy with the way his career was progressing.He took a year's leave (from 1888 - 1889) and completed his Diploma in Public Health from the Royal college of England. He became interested in Malaria in 1892. Initially he even doubted the existence of the malarial parasite! He took a long leave in 1894 and met Patrik Manson in 1894 at London. Manson convinced him that the malarial parasite did indeed exist by showed him the Leveran bodies in blood ( which were really malarial parasites in the patient's blood demonstrated by Leveran in 1898) and also showed him that these can be seen better by staining them. This was to be the turning point in the career of Ronald Ross.
Convinced by the belief that mosquitoes were in some way connected with the disease (Malaria) a concept proposed by Leveran and seconded by Manson, Ross agreed to do further research in India as requested by Manson. For the 3 years of the study, Manson would be the voice for Ross. He worked Secunderabad while he got an answer for his problem.
Now, study this scenario - Ross was given a room at Secunderabad hospital. It was a small hot room with only a window,a fan,a table,a chair and a microscope. His job included catching 7 mosquitoes everyday without harming them and carefully dissecting them ti study their gut - to see if anyone of them had malarial parasites inside their gut. Not even one mosquito studies was not yielding the result that he wanted. To make the matters worse, he could not even open the window or put the fan on. The dead mosquitoes awaiting the dissection will get scattered. The sweat from his brow would fall continuously on the microscope thereby ruining the fine adjustment. Imagine the constraints he had - he somehow managed to work.Later when he almost quit, Manson prevailed on him to continue for a few more months. On the 25 August 1897, Ross had last 2 mosquitoes left to be dissected . and then it happened - Ross found some large, clear cells in the gut of the mosquito the malarial parasite thereby proving his speculation that the Mosquitoes transmitted the disease. This was reported in the BMJ 0n 18 Dec 1897.
Worldwide recognition, name and fame soon followed. He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1902, Knighthood in 1911. He was also made the member of the Royal society of Medicine. Despite all these Ross was unhappy. Mentally he started competing with his mentor Manson whom he now considered an equal. He had many achievements more than Manson but Ross's private practice simply could not match the private practice of Manson who was immensely more popular with the patients.
This probably started his downfall. He contacted Malaria. He got severe depression. In 1927, he had a stroke from which he partially recovered. He died on 16 September 1932 a sad man.
In all, it can be said that the days of his research in India were his' golden days'. The non collaboration and disagreement between Ross and Manson after 1900 seems to have temporarily halted the development and progress of British Tropical Medicine.
What is surely of interest to the readers of these blogs is the fact that he served at our own Government Wenlock Hospital at Mangalore during his tenure at IMS. We should be really proud to have studied from and worked in a hospital where a Nobel Laureate had once worked!
He was born in India on 13 May 1857. He loved poetry and music.He passed his exam for the Royal Colllege Of Surgeons of England in 1874. His father's dream was to see him enter IMS in India at Madras which he reluctantly fulfilled. He was not too happy with the way his career was progressing.He took a year's leave (from 1888 - 1889) and completed his Diploma in Public Health from the Royal college of England. He became interested in Malaria in 1892. Initially he even doubted the existence of the malarial parasite! He took a long leave in 1894 and met Patrik Manson in 1894 at London. Manson convinced him that the malarial parasite did indeed exist by showed him the Leveran bodies in blood ( which were really malarial parasites in the patient's blood demonstrated by Leveran in 1898) and also showed him that these can be seen better by staining them. This was to be the turning point in the career of Ronald Ross.
Convinced by the belief that mosquitoes were in some way connected with the disease (Malaria) a concept proposed by Leveran and seconded by Manson, Ross agreed to do further research in India as requested by Manson. For the 3 years of the study, Manson would be the voice for Ross. He worked Secunderabad while he got an answer for his problem.
Now, study this scenario - Ross was given a room at Secunderabad hospital. It was a small hot room with only a window,a fan,a table,a chair and a microscope. His job included catching 7 mosquitoes everyday without harming them and carefully dissecting them ti study their gut - to see if anyone of them had malarial parasites inside their gut. Not even one mosquito studies was not yielding the result that he wanted. To make the matters worse, he could not even open the window or put the fan on. The dead mosquitoes awaiting the dissection will get scattered. The sweat from his brow would fall continuously on the microscope thereby ruining the fine adjustment. Imagine the constraints he had - he somehow managed to work.Later when he almost quit, Manson prevailed on him to continue for a few more months. On the 25 August 1897, Ross had last 2 mosquitoes left to be dissected . and then it happened - Ross found some large, clear cells in the gut of the mosquito the malarial parasite thereby proving his speculation that the Mosquitoes transmitted the disease. This was reported in the BMJ 0n 18 Dec 1897.
Worldwide recognition, name and fame soon followed. He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1902, Knighthood in 1911. He was also made the member of the Royal society of Medicine. Despite all these Ross was unhappy. Mentally he started competing with his mentor Manson whom he now considered an equal. He had many achievements more than Manson but Ross's private practice simply could not match the private practice of Manson who was immensely more popular with the patients.
This probably started his downfall. He contacted Malaria. He got severe depression. In 1927, he had a stroke from which he partially recovered. He died on 16 September 1932 a sad man.
In all, it can be said that the days of his research in India were his' golden days'. The non collaboration and disagreement between Ross and Manson after 1900 seems to have temporarily halted the development and progress of British Tropical Medicine.
What is surely of interest to the readers of these blogs is the fact that he served at our own Government Wenlock Hospital at Mangalore during his tenure at IMS. We should be really proud to have studied from and worked in a hospital where a Nobel Laureate had once worked!
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