![]() He also said that trauma in a child's early life often had a lasting effect. He advocated little punishment for children and no corporal punishment. Many of his ideas were advanced for his time. At one time, he estimated that he had treated over a million children.Ĭhildless himself, he had a great fondness for children and in 1932 authored a popular book titled Child Care Today that contained his firm beliefs about how children should be raised. He never displayed a stethoscope until he made sure a child was relaxed. He would often play the piano in his office, or take out one of his doll or animal figures to calm a child. His office held a collection of dolls and animals that he had acquired in travels throughout the world. Schick directed a private practice in New York City as well. He also taught as a professor of the diseases of children at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, starting in 1936. During his career, he also worked simultaneously at other hospitals, acting as director of pediatrics at Sea View Hospital in Staten Island, New York and consulting pediatrician at the Willard Parker Hospital, the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, and Beth Israel Hospital. Sinai Hospital until his retirement in May 1943, when he became a consulting pediatrician. Schick became an American citizen that same year and two years later married his wife, Catherine C. Schick left Vienna in 1923 to become pediatrician-in-chief at Mt. Schick's test technique was also used years later to treat people with allergies, using the same technique of injecting small doses of an antitoxin. Later on, the Schick test would show whether immunity persisted. In 1923, an antitoxin without side effects was developed and was then given to babies during their first year of life. Thus, Schick's discovery made it easier for them to treat those who were the most vulnerable. But the serum had so many side effects that doctors were unwilling to prescribe it unless they knew a patient was seriously in danger of catching diphtheria. A horse serum had also been developed that could prevent or even cure the disease. At the time Schick embarked on his research, scientists had already isolated the microbe or toxin that caused diphtheria. It was especially common in Europe, where the close quarters of many cities made infection more ![]() The treatment was then injection with an antitoxin.ĭiphtheria was a common disease in the early twentieth century and afflicted thousands of children in every city throughout the world. If the spot turned red and swollen, the doctors would know whether or not the patient been exposed to the disease. A tiny amount of the diluted toxin was injected into the patient's arm. It showed whether a patient had already been exposed to the diphtheria toxin, which would make him immune from getting it again. The test, announced in 1913, was a remarkably simple one that could tell whether a person was vulnerable to the disease. The study not only described the concept of allergy, but also recommended methods of treatment.Īt age 36, Schick moved on to make one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century -the test for diphtheria. While working with collaborator Clemens von Pirquet, Schick wrote his first research study describing the phenomenon of allergy, which was then called serum sickness. It was in 1905 that Schick made one of his most significant contributions. From then on he devoted his ample energies to teaching, research, and medical practice at the University of Vienna, where he served from 1902 to 1923 -first as an intern, then as an assistant in the pediatrics clinic, and finally as lecturer and professor of pediatrics. After a stint with the medical corps in the Austro-Hungarian army, Schick started his own medical practice in Vienna in 1902. degree at Karl Franz University, also in Graz. ![]() He attended the Staats Gymnasium in Graz, Austria, graduating in 1894. Schick was born on Jin Boglar, Hungary, the child of Jacob Schick, a grain merchant, and Johanna Pichler Schick. Schick was also the founder of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Schick received many honors for his work, including the Medal of the New York Academy of Medicine and the Addingham Gold Medal, a British award. Schick also defined the allergic reaction, was considered the leading pediatrician of his time, and made contributions to knowledge about scarlet fever, tuberculosis, and infant nutrition. Bela Schick was a pioneer in the field of child care not only did he invent the diphtheria test, which helped wipe out this disease in children, but he also formulated and publicized child care theories that were advanced for his day. ![]()
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