Karel Raška (; 17 November 1909 in Strašín – 21 November 1987 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

) was a Czech

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

, who headed the successful international effort during the 1960s to eradicate

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 ...

Life

Raška graduated from the gymnasium in Sušice, and later enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University in Prague. He graduated in 1933. In 1948 he received his habilitation, and in 1955 received his

professorship Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

. At the end of World War II, together with epidemiologist

František Patočka František Patočka (22 October 1904, Turnov – 14 March 1985, Prague) was a Czechoslovak microbiologist and serology, serologist. He established the study of virology in Czechoslovakia. Patočka studied medicine (specialised in microbiology) at t ...

, he was personally leading measures to stop the spread of epidemic typhus in the Terezín concentration camp. Together they wrote a report describing the appalling conditions and mistreatment of German civilians incarcerated in the Small Fortress after the war ended. In 1952 he was appointed as the Director of the newly created Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Prague. He studied the hotspots of

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

in Soviet Union, India and China. He introduced Rh-factor diagnostics and erythroblastosis foetalis treatment using

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...

s in Czechoslovakia, which became one of the first countries in Europe to do so. He was a Director of the WHO Division of Communicable Disease Control since 1963. His new concept of eliminating the disease was adopted by the WHO in 1967 and eventually led to the eradication of smallpox in 1977. Raška was also a strong promoter of the concept of

disease surveillance Disease surveillance is an epidemiological practice by which the spread of disease is monitored in order to establish patterns of progression. The main role of disease surveillance is to predict, observe, and minimize the harm caused by outbreak ...

, which was adopted in 1968 and has since become a standard practice in epidemiology. In 1984 he received the

Edward Jenner Medal The Edward Jenner Medal is awarded occasionally by the Royal Society of Medicine to individuals who have undertaken distinguished work in epidemiological research. The award was founded in 1896 by the Epidemiological Society of London (1850–190 ...

awarded by the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chamber ...

. Though respected abroad, Raška's contribution to eradicating smallpox was not appreciated in

Communist Czechoslovakia The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

. In 1970 he was fired from the leadership of the Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology by communist authorities. In 1972 he was forced to retire, and was even banned from entering the Institute premises. The reason was personal enmity from the communist minister of health, . Raška revealed Prokopec plagiarized his doctoral thesis.

Personal life

Raška was married to Helena Rašková, Czech pharmacologist. They had two sons, professor Karel Raška - molecular immunologist and virologist, and professor Ivan Raška - cell biologist.

References

External links

Academic Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
1909 births 1987 deaths Czech public health doctors Czech epidemiologists Charles University alumni Academic staff of Charles University Smallpox eradication Czechoslovak physicians People from Klatovy District Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, 1st class World Health Organization officials Czechoslovak epidemiologists {{CzechRepublic-med-bio-stub