In 1903, in the face of internal and external troubles, Yang Du composed "Hunan Youth Song" in Japan, which contains such a sentence: If the Chinese nation dies, unless the Hunan people die.
In history, many heroic figures who saved the country and the people appeared in Hunan, such as Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Tan Sitong, Cai Yi, Song Jiaoren, Huang Xing, etc., all of whom were Hunan people.
The protagonist I want to write about today is also a Hunan native, who has saved thousands of compatriots with medical skills, always put the interests of the country above personal interests, and is selfless and insists on medical skills to save the country.
He is Dr. Tang Feifan. His name should not be forgotten, but many people who are not in the medical industry now forget this former retrograde.
Figure | Tang Feifan
Tang Feifan is one of the first generation of virologists and microbiologists in China, and one of the discoverers of Chlamydia trachomatis. For the sake of China's medical cause, he once experimented with himself and would inoculate the trachoma virus in his own eyes.
It is also through his perseverance and specialization, the incidence of trachoma in patients has dropped from nearly 95% to less than 10%, not only that, China's first batch of rabies vaccines, the first batch of vaccinia vaccines, the first batch of diphtheria vaccines... have his presence, making important contributions to China's medical cause.
Pictured| Tang Feifan in his youth
Tang Feifan was born in 1897 in Hunan Province to a family of scholars. The Tang family has been a reader for generations, because they are not good at financial management, which also led to the gradual decline of the Tang family at the end of the Qing Dynasty. In order to maintain the family's livelihood, Tang Feifan's father, Tang Luquan, set up a private school in the local area.
When he was young, Tang Feifan often saw poor peasants suffering from illness but no money to see a doctor, so he aspired to study medicine, hoping to change the status quo of looking down on diseases through the revitalization of medicine.
In 1914, Tang Feifan entered Hunan Xiangya Medical College to study, and later entered the Department of Bacteriology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital for further study.
Due to Tang Feifan's excellent performance at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Tang Feifan had the opportunity to be recommended to continue his studies at Harvard Medical School in the United States.
Picture | Tang Feifan (first from right) and Madame (middle)
Before going to the United States, in 1925, Tang Feifan married He Jian's daughter He Lian in the near and near years, and the two crossed the ocean together to the United States.
During his studies at Harvard, Tang Feifan made great progress, and he successfully developed the first generation of acetate fire cotton gel filter membrane, becoming one of the microbiologists who study mycoplasma between viruses and bacteria.
At that time, Tang Feifan could be described as a young talent, Harvard University intended to invite him to stay at Harvard to continue his scientific research, just when Feifan was preparing to continue his studies, he received a letter from his hometown, the letter was his university teacher Yan Fuqing. The letter mentioned that he hoped that he would return to the motherland as soon as possible and contribute to the cause of medicine in China.
As we all know, the environment in China at that time was not very good, and the treatment was not as good as that of the United States. But Tang Feifan did not hesitate in the slightest, and he returned to China with his wife He Lian.
Picture | Tang Feifan's family of three
After returning to China, Tang Feifan, faced with the simple medical environment in China, was not discouraged, in order to establish a bacteriological laboratory belonging to China, he not only purchased equipment from his own pocket, but also donated his beloved microscope for scientific research.
Since then, China has opened the door to virus research.
After returning to China, Tang Feifan successively published more than twenty papers on the prevention of infectious diseases, and began to occupy a place in virus research.
However, within two years, war broke out. When the country was in trouble, Tang Feifan decided to give up his scientific research work. His wife did not understand his decision very much, and he said to He Lian bitterly: "What is the use of studying, researching, and researching the best things to become a slave to the country?" ”
Pictured| Tang Feifan in the laboratory
Tang Feifan changed direction, and in 1937, Tang Feifan was ordered to rebuild the Central Epidemic Prevention Office in order to produce a large number of serums and vaccines urgently needed for the War of Resistance.
At the time of the war, when the epidemic prevention work was very difficult, Dr. Joseph Needham, the author of "History of Science and Technology in China", went to Kunming to inspect the Central Epidemic Prevention Office, and he published an article in the British journal Nature, which wrote:
"This boiler is often leaky and unsafe. Every night after use, it must be overhauled. ...... A set of equipment that reuses waste agar represents the tradition of this plant. ...... A broken wooden boat, placed in the lake for dialysis. ...... There is no supply of commodity peptone, so I make it myself..."
It can be seen how simple the scientific research environment faced by the staff of the Epidemic Prevention Department is, it is simply poor.
However, Tang Feifan overcame many difficulties and forced the construction of the epidemic prevention office in rural Kunming.
Not only did the epidemic prevention work be dutiful, during this period, Tang Feifan also developed the first batch of 50,000 units of penicillin in China, making China one of the seven countries in the world that can successfully develop penicillin.
In addition, Tang Feifan also led relevant personnel to produce 100,000 doses of cowpox vaccine to support the liberated areas. Later, the production method was improved, and a large number of high-quality vaccinia vaccines were produced, which promoted the national-scale general-breed cowpox campaign.
In 1950, Tang Feifan became the director of the Institute of Biological Products of the Ministry of Health of the Central People's Government. In the same year, the plague broke out in northern Hebei, and he led researchers to produce China's own live attenuated vaccine for plague.
Figure | Tang Feifan (first from the right)
In order to prevent imperialist germ warfare, Tang Feifan also undertook the development of a yellow fever vaccine and made China's own live attenuated yellow fever vaccine.
In 1954, our country became the hardest hit area for trachoma. Tang Feifan and his assistant Huang Yuan ketones, after hundreds of tests, finally used the chicken embryo yolk sac inoculation and streptomycin bacteriostatic methods to isolate the world's first strain of trachoma virus.
Tang Feifan's research on trachoma virus has been recognized by the world medical community, known as "Tang's virus", and promoted the study of the pathogens of psittac and grouse lymphogranuloma.
Not only that, the vaccinia vaccine developed by Tang Feifan contributed to the extinction of smallpox in China in 1960.
Tang Feifan's contribution to the country cannot be described in words, without him, I don't know how many people would have lost their lives by the virus. But his final encounter was a lament.
Later, caught up with the turbulent times. Because Tang Feifan's father-in-law, He Jian, was an important figure in the Kuomintang, Tang Feifan was implicated. At this time, Tang Feifan was at the trough of his life, some people said that he was a traitor who gave the trachoma virus to foreigners, and some people said that he was a disloyal person who had an extramarital affair with a female comrade in the laboratory.
In short, there were many opinions, and at this time, Tang Feifan was scolded and insulted by the opposition.
In the face of the virus, Tang Feifan did not give in, and in the face of rumors and humiliation, Tang Feifan still did not give in. In September 1958, Tang Feifan chose to commit suicide and ended his life at the age of 61.
After Tang Feifan's death, because the grievances were not rehabilitated, relatives and friends did not go to remembrance for fear of being implicated, and his family did not hold a funeral. Only his wife He Lian cremated Tang Feifan's body alone and then brought his ashes home.
In 1979, the former Ministry of Health rehabilitated Tang Feifan's grievances.
Picture | Tang Feifan with colleagues
Although Tang Feifan passed away, it is fortunate that the scientific community has not forgotten Tang Feifan.
In May 1981, at the 25th International Trachoma Prevention And Negotiation Organization Conference held in Paris, Tang Feifan was awarded the gold medal for the prevention and control of trachoma. In 1982, China posthumously awarded Tang Feifan the Scientific Invention Award for Successful Isolation of Chlamydia Trachomatis.
The generals are easy to hear, and those who believe (referring to Han Xin) are unparalleled in the country. - "History of the Marquis of Huaiyin"
The unparalleled soldier of the country refers to the outstanding person in the country, and this is the only one. Often refers to the unique talents of a country.
Tang Feifan, the father of China's vaccines, is unparalleled in the country and deserves his name. Tang Feifan's death makes people regret it, his whole life has been practicing hanging pots to save the world, and he has spent his life practicing the study of medicine to serve the country and save the people from water and fire.
Remember SARS?
When SARS was raging, an old cadre of the Ministry of Health could not help but sigh
"If Tang Feifan is here, why is this?"
My purpose in writing this article is to show you that when the virus is raging and the plague comes, it is the usually unknown health care workers who really protect us, not the big stars on the screen. Don't wait for the country to think of good generals, don't wait until the time of danger to think of heroes. Hats off to the vast number of healthcare workers.