100 years of allergy

Clemens von Pirquet (1874-1929) was the first to introduce “Allergie” into clinical medicine by characterizing an altered immune reaction of the body to foreign substances. The famous paper was published 1906 in the “Münchner Medizinische Wochenschrift (MMW)” Volume 53, page 1457-1458.

AB Kay published a nice essay on “100 years of Allergy: can von Pirquet’s word be rescued?” that includes an English translation of the above paper. The MMW has a contemporary obituary of Meinhard von Pfaundler (1872-1947) who was one of the earlier directors of the Münchner Haunersche Kinderspital.

Finally, the “Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift” has a CV of Clemens von Pirquet, showing his way to Baltimore and Breslau back to Vienna until his tragic end by committing suicide together with his mentally ill wife.

pirquet2.png