Thomas Henry Flewett,
MD,
FRCPath
The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation.
Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to pr ...
,
FRCP (29 June 1922 – 12 December 2006) was a founder member (and subsequently Fellow) of the
Royal College of Pathologists
The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation.
Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to pr ...
and was elected (by distinction) a Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians of London
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
in 1978. He was chairman of 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 ...
(WHO) Steering Committee on Viral Diarrhoeal Diseases, 1990–3, and a member until 1996. His laboratory in Birmingham was a World Health Organization Reference and Research Centre for Rotavirus Infections from 1980 until his retirement in 1987. He was an external examiner, visiting lecturer, and scientific journal editor. He was a member of the board of the
Public Health Laboratory Service
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
(now
Public Health England
Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...
) from 1977 to 1983 and was chairman of the Public Health Laboratory Service's Committee on Electron Microscopy from 1977 to 1987.
Flewett received his medical education at
Queen's University, Belfast
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, where he graduated with honours at the end of the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in 1945.
Childhood
Flewett was born in
Shimla
Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...
India, where his father, William Edward Flewett (born 1894) a graduate of
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
, was a member of the Imperial Forestry Service,
[P. S. Sharma, ''The Indian Forester'', Vol 50, p. xxii, (1924)] that, in 1966, became the
Indian Forest Service
The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. The other two All India Services being the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. It was constituted in the year 1966 und ...
of the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
.
[Lives of the Fellows, Royal College of Physicians]
/ref> In 1915, his father joined the Indian Reserve Army, as required by law, becoming a Second Lieutenant in July 1916. He was transferred to Lahore in 1924.[ Thomas Flewett was educated at ]Campbell College
Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...
in Belfast.
Early years 1945–1956
Flewett studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast, where he graduated with honours in 1945. He worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and, from 1946 to 1948, was a demonstrator in bacteriology and pathology at Queen's University. His scientific interest in viruses began with his membership of the scientific staff of the National Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research (commonly abbreviated to NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC);
In 2016, the NIMR b ...
at Mill Hill, where he spent three years between 1948 and 1951 researching common cold viruses and exploring the effect of influenza viruses on cells in culture. This led to his first use of electron microscopy, in which he became a leading authority. In 1951 he moved as lecturer in bacteriology to Leeds University
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
, where he was involved in the 1953 smallpox outbreak. This experience proved invaluable twenty-five years later when a laboratory-associated case of smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
at the Medical School of the University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...
, UK, led to the death of Janet Parker
The 1978 smallpox outbreak in the United Kingdom resulted in the death of Janet Parker, a British medical photographer, who became the last recorded person to die from smallpox. Her illness and death, which was connected to the deaths of two oth ...
. In 1951 he married June Evelyn Hall who bore him three daughters.[
]
Regional Virus Laboratory, Birmingham, England 1956–1987
In 1956 Flewett was appointed consultant virologist to East Birmingham Hospital, where he established one of the first virus laboratories in England. His laboratory was close to an infectious diseases unit and this enabled him to provide confirmation of the clinical diagnosis of diseases that included poliomyelitis, diarrhoea
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 ...
, smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
and AIDS. He was a member of the senior management team of East Birmingham (now Heartlands) Hospital and helped to establish the regional immunology laboratory there.[
Flewett's interests included influenza, coxsackie A and coxsackie B viruses, the major and minor variants of ]smallpox virus
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...
, and hepatitis B virus
''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) is a partially double-stranded DNA virus, a species of the genus '' Orthohepadnavirus'' and a member of the '' Hepadnaviridae'' family of viruses. This virus causes the disease hepatitis B.
Disease
Despite there b ...
. Although he discovered the cause of hand, foot and mouth disease
Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common infection caused by a group of enteroviruses. It typically begins with a fever and feeling generally unwell. This is followed a day or two later by flat discolored spots or bumps that may blis ...
, the work that gained him an international reputation began in the early 1970s with the discovery of viruses causing diarrhoea, particularly in infants and young children. Flewett named one of the then most frequent causes of death in infants in tropical countries, rotavirus
''Rotavirus'' is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family ''Reoviridae''. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus ...
es.[
]Norwalk virus
Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may also occur. Symptoms usually devel ...
had been discovered by Albert Kapikian using immune electron microscopy and Ruth Bishop and colleagues had seen different particles that they thought were viruses in gut biopsies by thin section electron microscopy. But the preparation of thin sections was too cumbersome for routine use, and Flewett and his co-workers showed that these viruses could be seen by electron microscopy directly in faeces. Flewett and his colleagues in his Birmingham laboratory had observed these viruses in the faeces of sick children before the publication of Ruth Bishop's paper but they failed to realise that they were the cause of the infection. The virus particles have a wheel-shaped appearance by electron microscopy, and it was Flewett who gave them the name "rotavirus," by which they have been known since. Flewett wrote: 'At the South Wiltshire Virology Society I met Gerald Woode, then at Compton, in late 1973. He described a virus causing diarrhoea in calves. I realized we had much the same in children. We found his virus and ours were related – something new. We called them rotaviruses'
His original idea was to suggest the name "urbivirus" because of the structural similarity of rotavirus to orbivirus
''Orbivirus'' is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family ''Reoviridae'' and subfamily '' Sedoreovirinae''. Unlike other reoviruses, orbiviruses are arboviruses. They can infect and replicate within a wide range of arthropod and ver ...
. Ruth Bishop, who was the first to describe rotaviruses as a cause of gastroenteritis had suggested "duovirus" because these viruses replicate in the duodenum and, at the time, were thought to have a double protein outer coat. The early research papers from the 1970s use both names.
Flewett did much collaborative work on rotaviruses with others to establish the varieties of rotavirus which infect the young of virtually every species of animal. His research group were the first to describe the different serotypes of rotavirus. This work was important to the development of a rotavirus vaccine
Rotavirus vaccine is a vaccine used to protect against rotavirus infections, which are the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young children. The vaccines prevent 15–34% of severe diarrhea in the developing world and 37–96% of s ...
. He also identified two new species of adenoviruses (later called types 40 and 41), as well as confirming the presence of calicivirus
The ''Caliciviridae'' are a family of "small round structured" viruses, members of Class IV of the Baltimore scheme. Caliciviridae bear resemblance to enlarged picornavirus and was formerly a separate genus within the picornaviridae. They are p ...
es, astrovirus
Astroviruses are a type of virus that was first discovered in 1975 using electron microscopes following an outbreak of diarrhea in humans. In addition to humans, astroviruses have now been isolated from numerous mammalian animal species (and a ...
es, and faecal coronaviruses. He, along with H.G. Pereira also discovered picobirnaviruses, and with other colleagues first described human torovirus.
Birmingham smallpox tragedy
Janet Parker was the last person to die from smallpox. The diagnosis was made by Professor A. Geddes at East Birmingham Hospital where she had been admitted. Before the diagnosis had been confirmed, a member of Flewett's laboratory had collected fluid from Janet Parker's vesicles and taken it across the grounds of the hospital for examination in the virus laboratory. Flewett ordered his staff to fumigate the laboratory with formaldehyde
Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section ...
. The ward in which Janet Parker had been initially cared for was also fumigated. The building housing wards 31 and 32 were later demolished. Two members of Flewett's team were subsequently quarantined but apart from Janet Parker's mother, no further cases of smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
occurred. This tragedy led to the suicide of Professor Henry Bedson
Henry Samuel Bedson, MD, MRCP (29 September 1929 – 6 September 1978), was a British virologist and head of the Department of Medical Microbiology at Birmingham Medical School, where his research focused on smallpox and monkeypox. He was ...
.
WHO Reference and Research Laboratory 1980–1987
Flewett's work on rotaviruses brought him international recognition both as a virologist and an electron microscopist. He was one of the first western virologists to be invited to the People's Republic of China (in 1983) to lecture. He was a judge for the King Faisal International Prize in 1983, which was awarded to Professor John S. Fordtran, Dr William B. Greenough III and Professor Michael Field, for their work on oral rehydration therapy
Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is a type of fluid replacement used to prevent and treat dehydration, especially due to diarrhea. It involves drinking water with modest amounts of sugar and salts, specifically sodium and potassium. Oral rehydrat ...
in reducing mortality and morbidity due to cholera and other acute infectious diarrhoeal diseases.
During these years he travelled widely as a 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 ...
consultant to most countries in which childhood diarrhoea is a major problem. He established The WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rotaviruses, (known as The WHO Lab), at his laboratory which was supported by The World Health Organization from 1980 until his retirement in 1987. This laboratory was formerly a small tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
bacteriology laboratory.
As well as continuing with basic research on the viruses that cause gastroenteritis, his laboratory produced reagents for the laboratory diagnosis of rotavirus infections based on monoclonal antibodies developed by his research team.
These reagents were sent regularly to numerous hospital laboratories throughout the developing world.
The WHO laboratory attracted many visiting scientists from many countries and his team of research scientists contributed to the development of a vaccine against rotavirus infections. His laboratory was active in the search for other, undiscovered causes of viral infections which Flewett called "the diagnostic gap", because many causes of gastroenteritis are still unknown.[J Med Virol. 2003 Jun;70(2):258-62.Infantile viral gastroenteritis: on the way to closing the diagnostic gap. Simpson R, Aliyu S, Iturriza-Gomara M, Desselberger U, Gray J.Clinical Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom.]
Legacy
Flewett was educated at a time when very little was known about viruses and viral illness and when there were no laboratory tests to aid or confirm a diagnosis. Flewett was a pioneer—today diagnostic virology laboratories, like the one he established in 1956, can be found throughout the world. Flewett published over 120 scientific and medical articles and papers.[ Following the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, worldwide the incidence of deaths of children caused by rotavirus has fallen from around 500,000 each year in 2000, to around 200,000 in 2013.] As more countries use the vaccine, the incidence is decreasing.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flewett, Thomas Henry
1922 births
2006 deaths
People educated at Campbell College
Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Academics of the University of Leeds
British virologists