Wright, Almroth Edward WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY604•
Another noteworthy initiative of WHO has been the
Global Programme on AIDS, which was launched in 1987. The
participation of WHO and agencies such as the Centers for
Disease Controland Prevention is necessary to adequately
address AIDS, because the disease is prevalent in under-devel-
oped countries where access to medical care and health pro-
motion is limited.
Today, WHO is structured as eight divisions. The
themes that are addressed by individual divisions include
communicable diseases, noncommunicable diseases and men-
tal health, family and community health, sustainable develop-
ment and health environments, health technology and
pharmaceuticals, and policy development. These divisions
support the four pillars of WHO: worldwide guidance in
health, worldwide development of improved standards of
health, cooperation with governments in strengthening
national health programs, and development of improved
health technologies, information, and standards.See alsoHistory of public heath; Public health, current issuesWRIGHT, ALMROTHEDWARD
(1861-1947)Wright, Almroth Edward
English bacteriologist and immunologistAlmroth Edward Wright is best known for his contributions to
the field of immunologyand the development of the autoge-
nous vaccine. Wright utilized bacteriathat were present in the
host to create his vaccines. He also developed an anti-typhoid
inoculation composed of heat-killed typhusspecific bacilli.
Wright was a consistent advocate for vaccine and inoculation
therapies, and at the onset of World War I convinced the
British military to inoculate all troops against typhus.
However, Wright was also interested in bacteriological
research. Wright conducted several studies on bacteriological
infections in post-surgical and accidental wounds.
Wright was born in Yorkshire, England. He studied
medicine at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1884. He
then studied medicine in France, Germany, and Australia for
few years before returning home to accept a position in
London. He conducted most of his research at the Royal
Victoria Hospital where he was Chair of Pathology at the
Army Medical School. In 1899, Wright lobbied to have all of
the troops departing to fight in the Boer War in Africa inocu-
lated against typhus. The government permitted Wright to
institute a voluntary program, but only a small fraction of
troops participated. Typhus was endemic among the soldiers
in Africa, and accounted for over 9,000 deaths during the war.
Following the return of the troops, the Army conducted a
study into the efficacy of the inoculation and for unknown rea-
sons, decided to suspend the inoculation program. Wright was
infuriated and resigned his post.
Wright then took a position at St. Mary’s Hospital in
London. He began a small vaccinationand inoculation clinicthat later became the renowned Inoculation Department.
Convinced that his anti-typhus inoculation worked, he
arranged for a second study of his therapy on British troops
stationed in India. The results were promising, but the Army
largely ignored the new information. Before the eve of World
War I, Wright once again appealed to military command to
inoculate troops against typhus. Wright petitioned Lord
Kitchener in 1914. Kitchener agreed with Wright’s recom-
mendation and ordered a mandatory inoculation program.
Most likely owing to his often sparse laboratory set-
tings, Wright revised several experimental methods, publish-
ing them in various journals. One of his most renowned
contributions was a reform of common blood and fluid collec-
tion procedures. Common practice was to collect samples
from capillaries with pipettes, not from veins with a syringe.
Like modern syringes, pipettes required suction. This was usu-
ally supplied by mouth. Wright attached a rubberized teat to
the pipette, permitting for a cleaner, more aseptic, collection
of blood and fluid samples. He also developed a disposable
capsule for the collection, testing, and storage of blood speci-
mens. In 1912, Wright published a compendium of several of
his reformed techniques.
Wright often had to endure the trials of critical colleagues
and public healthofficials who disagreed with some of his inno-
vations in the laboratory and his insistence on vaccine therapies.
Wright usually prevailed in these clashes. However, Wright
stood in opposition to the most formidable medical movement
of his early days, antisepsis. Antiseptic surgical protocols called
for the sterilizationof all instruments and surgical surfaces with
a carbolic acid solution. However, some surgeons and propo-
nents of the practice advocated placing bandages soaked in a
weaker form of the solution directly on patient wounds. Wright
agreed with the practice of instrument sterilization, but claimed
that antiseptic wound care killed more leukocytes, the body’s
natural defense against bacteria and infection, than harmful bac-
teria. Wright’s solution was to treat wounds with a saline wash
and let the body fight infection with its own defenses. Not until
the advancement of asepsis, the process of creating a sterile
environment within the hospital, and the discovery of antibi-
oticswas Wright’s claim re-evaluated.
Wright had a distinguished career in his own right, but
is also remembered as the teacher of Alexander Fleming, who
later discovered penicillinand antibiotics. During Wright’s
campaign to inoculate troops before World War I, and
throughout the course of his research on wound care, Fleming
was Wright’s student and assistant. Fleming’s later research
vindicated many of Wright’s theories on wound care, but also
lessened the significance of autogenous vaccine therapies. The
Inoculation Department in which both Wright and Fleming
worked was later renamed in honor of the two scientists.
Wright died, while still actively working at his labora-
tory in Buckinghamshire, at the age of 85.See alsoImmune stimulation, as a vaccine; Immune system;
Immunity, active, passive and delayed; Immunity, cell medi-
ated; Immunity, humoral regulation; Immunizationwomi_W 5/7/03 10:18 AM Page 604