Jean Baptiste Émile Vidal (18 June 1825 – 16 June 1893) was a French
dermatologist
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...
who was a native of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
He studied medicine in
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
and Paris, becoming ''médecin des hôpitaux'' in 1862. For much of his career he was associated with the
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Hôpital Saint-Louis () is a hospital in Paris, France. It was built in 1611 by architect Claude Vellefaux at the request of Henry IV of France. It is part of the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris hospital system, and it is located at 1 a ...
(1867–1890) in Paris. In 1883 he became a member of the ''
Académie de Médecine
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
''.
In 1893, Vidal was the first to recognize and define the transmission of
herpes simplex virus
Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) are two members of the Herpesviridae#Human herpesvirus types, human ''Herpesviridae'' family, a set of viruses that produce Viral disease, viral infections in the majority of humans. Both HSV-1 a ...
from one person to another.
He is remembered for his investigations of
lupus
Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...
and skin
lichenification
Lichenification is a cutaneous condition caused by consistent irritation of the skin, such as scratching or rubbing, but can also be caused by friction from clothing or chemical irritants. Lichenification can develop from scratching existing skin ...
. His name is associated with "
pityriasis circinata
Pityriasis commonly refers to flaking (or scaling) of the skin. The word comes from the Greek πίτυρον 'bran'.
Classification
Types include:
* Pityriasis alba, dry, fine-scaled, pale patches on the face
* Pityriasis lichenoides chronica, ...
et marginata of Vidal", a disorder that is synonymous to
pityriasis rosea
Pityriasis rosea is a type of skin rash. Classically, it begins with a single red and slightly scaly area known as a "herald patch". This is then followed, days to weeks later, by an eruption of many smaller scaly spots; pinkish with a red edge ...
, and "Vidal's disease", an historical name for
lichen simplex chronicus
Lichen simplex chronicus (LSC) is thick leathery skin with exaggerated skin markings caused by sudden itching and excessive rubbing and scratching. It generally results in small bumps, patches, scratch marks and scale. It typically affects the ...
.
Publications
* ''Considérations sur le rhumatisme articulaire chronique primitif'', 1855
* ''Du Pityriasis'', 1877
* ''Inoculabilité de quelques affections cutanées'', 1877
* ''Du pityriasis circiné et marginé'', 1882
* ''Étude sur le mycosis fongoïde'' with
L .Brocq, Paris : A. Delahaye et E. Lecrosnier, 1885
* ''Acne molluscum contagiosum" généralisée ; acné varioliforme (de Bazin) généralisée'', 1889.
IDREF.fr
(bibliography)
Notes
References
@ Who Named It
''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...
1825 births
1893 deaths
French dermatologists
Physicians from Paris
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