Julio Meneghello Rivera (1911 – 15 August 2009) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an physician, scientist, academic, and researcher, considered the initiator of social pediatrics in his country.

Biography

Julio Meneghello obtained his professional degree in 1936 at the University of Chile. Between 1941 and 1943 he did postgraduate studies at the American universities

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

, and

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. In 1950 he assisted in the establishment of the Pediatric Research Laboratory, which gave rise in 1977 to the . He is considered the father of modern

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

in the country, among other things, because he was the first in the world – around 1955 – to put into practice the systematized use of oral serums to treat acute

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

with great

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

in malnourished children. In addition, he and his team found the ideal composition of these hydrating serums, which (with certain modifications) would be recommended by entities such as the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

for the management of these minors. The importance of this scientific and pedagogical work was recognized by the medical journal ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

'' in 1978, as one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century for developing countries. In 1995 Meneghello received the Rector Juvenal Hernández Jaque Medal, awarded by the University of Chile to those members of their community who, in the exercise of their professions, have rendered distinguished services. In 1996 he received Chile's National Prize for Applied Sciences and Technologies for his contribution to eradicating malnutrition and reducing infant mortality in the country. In 2002 he was awarded his country's

National Prize for Medicine The National Prize for Medicine ( es, Premio Nacional de Medicina) was created in 2001 by the , the Association of Medical Faculties, the Association of Medical Scientific Societies, and the Medical College of Chile. It is given to recognize the w ...

. Julio Meneghello died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

on 15 August 2009, at age 98.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meneghello, Julio 1911 births 2009 deaths Academic staff of the University of Chile Chilean people of Italian descent Chilean pediatricians Cornell University alumni Deaths from pneumonia in Chile Harvard University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Medical educators University of Chile alumni 20th-century Chilean physicians 21st-century Chilean physicians