J Med Biogr. 2014 Feb;22(1):2-8. doi: 10.1177/0967772013493239. Epub 2013 Jul 12.
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930): Physician during the typhoid epidemic in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).
Abstract
When
the Anglo-Boer War broke out in October 1899, Arthur Conan Doyle, a
retired ophthalmologist, was already famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Motivated by patriotism and adventure, Doyle joined the medical staff
of a private field hospital endowed by philanthropist John Langman
(1846-1928). Langman Hospital opened in Bloemfontein, South Africa, at
the height of that city's typhoid fever epidemic which raged from April
to June 1900. There were nearly 5000 cases of typhoid and 1000 deaths
but official statistics do not truly reflect the magnitude of the
suffering. Doyle argued that the British Army had made a major mistake
by not making antityphoid inoculation compulsory. Because of the new
vaccine's side effects, 95% of the soldiers refused immunization.
Despite his strong opinions, Doyle failed to press the issue of
compulsory inoculation when he testified before two Royal Commissions
investigating the medical and military management of the war in South
Africa. One can only imagine how the army might have benefited from the
new idea of prophylactic vaccination in preventive medicine if Doyle had
not let these opportunities slip away. As a consequence, antityphoid
inoculation was still voluntary when Great Britain entered World War I
in August 1914.
