Little Dreyfus Affair
In 1902, nineteen Punjabi villagers (inoculated from a single bottle of vaccine) died of tetanus. An inquiry commission indicted Haffkine, and he was relieved of his position and returned to England. The report was unofficially known as "Little Dreyfus affair", as a reminder of Haffkine's Jewish background and religion.
The Lister Institute reinvestigated the claim and overruled the verdict: it was discovered that an assistant used a dirty bottle cap without sterilizing it.
In July 1907, a letter published in The Times called the case against Haffkine "distinctly disproven". It was signed by Ronald Ross (Nobel laureate, malaria researcher), R.F.C. Leith (the founder of Birmingham University Institute of Pathology), William R. Smith (President of the Council of the Royal Institute of Public Health), and Simon Flexner (Director of Laboratories at New York Rockefeller Institute), among other medical dignitaries. This led to Haffkine's acquittal.
Read more about this topic: Waldemar Haffkine
Famous quotes containing the words dreyfus and/or affair:
““I am innocent, Long live France! I am innocent,” Dreyfus kept repeating, over and over, while they reviled him. All he needed was a crown of thorns.”
—Norman Reilly Raine (1895–1971)
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