Intended for healthcare professionals

Monk's moments: A rose by any other name ...

Barry Monk
The 1950s were a golden age in medicine. The antibiotic era had seen the arrival of penicillin, erythromycin, streptomycin and isoniazid, all in the space of little over a decade, and with them the virtual eradication of many deadly infections. Viral disease appeared to be the last barrier, yet research into antiviral agents was unrewarding. Then in 1957, a young scientist, Dr Alick Isaacs, made the observation that certain cells, when infected with a virus, produce an agent that inhibits further viral infection. Could this perhaps be the long-sought ‘magic bullet’ against viral infections? But first, Isaacs pondered, what should the new material be called?
Dermatology in practice 2001; 9(6): 31–31
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Dermatology in practice was previously supported by Wyeth from 2008 to 2010, by Wyeth and Serono in 2007, by Wyeth and Shire from 2005 to 2006, by Medlock Medical in 2004 and by SSL International from 2001 to 2003.

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