How historic vaccine triumph made Pasteur Institute a tool of French 'soft power'

By

When in 1885 French scientist Louis Pasteur successfully treated a nine-year-old boy called Joseph Meister who had been bitten by a rabid dog it marked a turning point in the development of vaccines. But the medical breakthrough was also the launchpad for a global expansion of institutes bearing their founder's name which became a spearhead for French influence around the world. As part of a summer series on the history of vaccines, Nicolas Chevassus-au-Louis looks at the pioneering work of France's Louis Pasteur and his nationalistic rivalry with Germany's Robert Koch.

Reading articles is for subscribers only. Subscribe now.

In the summer of 1885, and using a preparation of his own invention, French scientist Louis Pasteur began treating several children bitten by dogs that were suspected of having rabies. At that time rabies was a rare disease which provoked fear both because of its awful symptoms and the near-certainty that it would lead to death.