Sir Patrick Manson

Sir Patrick Manson (born Oct. 3, 1844, Old Meldrum, Aberdeen, Scot.—died April 9, 1922, London, Eng.) was a British parasitologist who founded the field of tropical medicine. He was the first to discover (1877–79) that an insect (mosquito) can be host to a developing parasite (the worm Filaria bancrofti) that is the cause of a human disease (filariasis, which occurs when the worms invade body tissues). His research, and Alphonse Laveran’s discovery of the malarial parasite, facilitated Sir Ronald Ross’s elucidation of the transmission of malaria by mosquitoes.

From 1866 to 1889 Manson practiced medicine in Hong Kong and other coastal Chinese cities, where he was one of the first to introduce vaccination. He instituted the Medical School of Hong Kong, which developed later (1911) into the University of Hong Kong. In 1890 he settled in London, where he organized the London School of Tropical Medicine (1899). He was knighted in 1903 and continued to practice medicine until his death. His textbook Tropical Diseases (1898) became a standard work.