Carl Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Flügge (12 September 1847 – 10 December 1923) was a German

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

and hygienist. His finding that pathogens were present in expiratory droplets, the eponymous Flügge droplets, laid the foundations for the concept of droplet transmission as a route for the spread of respiratory infectious diseases.

Biography

Originally from Hanover, Carl Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Flügge studied medicine in Göttingen, Bonn, Leipzig and Munich. In 1878 he taught hygiene in Berlin. In 1881 Flügge became the first chair of hygiene at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, and afterwards was a professor at the Universities of Breslau and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he succeeded

Max Rubner Max Rubner (2 June 1854, Munich27 April 1932, Berlin) was a German physiologist and hygienist. Academic career He studied at the University of Munich and worked as an assistant under Adolf von Baeyer and Carl von Voit (doctorate 1878). Later ...

(1854–1932) at the Department of Hygiene. Flügge was a colleague of

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( ; ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he i ...

(1843–1910), with whom he co-edited the journal ''Zeitschrift für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten''. Two of his better-known assistants at Breslau were Wolfgang Weichardt (1875–1943) and Walther Kruse (1864–1943).

Research

Flügge is known for advocating hygiene as an independent medical discipline, and is remembered for performing extensive research involving the transmission of infectious diseases such as

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

. In the 1890s, he demonstrated that even during "quiet speech", minute droplets – the Flügge droplets – are propelled into the air. The finding was instrumental in Jan Mikulicz-Radecki (1850–1905) advocating the use of surgical

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masks in 1897, and was the foundation for the modern concept of droplet transmission.

Publications

Among his publications are two important books on hygiene: * * Other works include: * *
Part 1Part 2
Articles include:
''Die Verbreitung der Phthise durch staubförmiges Sputum und durch beim Husten verspritzte Tröpfchen''
Zeitschrift für Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten volume 30, pages 107–124 (1899)

References

Bibliography

Lehrbuch der hygienischen Untersuchungsmethoden

The Gospel of Germs: Men, Women, and the Microbe in American Life
* * German microbiologists Hygienists 1847 births 1923 deaths Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Academic staff of the University of Breslau Medical Microbiology and Immunology editors {{Germany-med-bio-stub