Louis Weinstein (February 26, 1908 – March 16, 2000) was an American

infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

physician,

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 ...

, and educator. He was a pioneer in the modern field of infectious disease treatment, having started his career before antibiotics and vaccines became widely available. Over his career he taught at the three medical schools in Boston:

Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University School of Medicine (formally the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine) is the medical school of Boston University, a private university, private research university in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in ...

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in down ...

, and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

, making him one of the few doctors to do so. During his lifetime, he wrote or co-wrote more than 400 articles published in professional journals.

Biography

Weinstein was born in 1908 in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. He received a masters and doctorate in

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, financing his studies by working as a

jazz violin Jazz violin is the use of the violin or electric violin to improvise solo lines. Early jazz violinists included: Eddie South, who played violin with Jimmy Wade's Dixielanders in Chicago; Stuff Smith; and Claude "Fiddler" Williams. Joe Venuti ...

ist. He graduated from

in 1943, and was appointed chief of infectious disease at the university in 1947. He worked for twelve years at Haynes Memorial Hospital in Boston, where he treated thousands of patients with various infectious diseases. In 1957, he transferred to Tufts Medical Center as chief of infectious diseases for adult medicine and pediatrics, and remained there until moving to

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...

in 1975. He concurrently served as a visiting professor in infectious diseases to

from 1975 to 1993. Weinstein, who began working in the pre-antibiotic era, encouraged physicians to prescribe antibiotics such as

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

and helped to develop guidelines for antibiotic therapy. By the end of the 1940s, he became one of the first physicians to also warn against the overuse of antibiotics and the dangers of

antibiotic resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resis ...

. Fellow Boston infectious diseases physician Morton N. Swartz described Weinstein as "a bridge between the eras before and after the introduction of antibiotics". He played a significant role in the New England

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

epidemics of 1949 and 1955; when

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

s refused to see polio-infected pregnant women because they feared viral transmission, Weinstein delivered the babies. He traveled across New England to make house calls, and on one occasion was summoned to Paris to treat

Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...

for pneumonia. He chaired a

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

advisory committee on the

legionnaire's disease Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of ''Legionella'' bacteria, quite often ''Legionella pneumophila''. Signs and symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches. Nause ...

outbreak in Philadelphia in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weinstein, Louis 1908 births 2000 deaths American microbiologists American infectious disease physicians Harvard Medical School faculty Tufts University School of Medicine faculty Boston University School of Medicine faculty People from Bridgeport, Connecticut Yale School of Medicine alumni Boston University School of Medicine alumni Physicians from Massachusetts 20th-century American physicians American medical researchers 20th-century American biologists Physician-scientists Scientists from Connecticut Scientists from Massachusetts Physicians from Connecticut