History of malaria control in the French armed forces: from Algeria to the Macedonian front during the first World War

• Published in: Médecine et santé tropicales (Montrouge, France) Vol. 24; no. 4; p. 349
• Main Authors: Migliani, R, Meynard, J-B, Milleliri, J-M, Verret, C, Rapp, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: France 01-10-2014
• Subjects: Algeria; Antimalarials - history; Antimalarials - therapeutic use; France; Greece; History, 20th Century; Humans; Malaria - drug therapy; Malaria - history; Malaria - prevention & control; Military Personnel - history; Quinine - history; Quinine - therapeutic use; World War I; Greece; France; Algeria; Sergent; Laveran; Salonika army; Algeria; Macedonia; Maillot; malaria
• ISSN: 2261-2211
• DOI: 10.1684/mst.2014.0411

The French joint military health corps has long experience in malaria control. Many military physicians played an essential role in the 19th century: Maillot revolutionized malaria treatment by using quinine during the conquest of Algeria, and Laveran discovered the causal parasite (the genus Plasmodium) there. This experience continued under the direction of Laveran and the Sergent brothers on the eastern front in Greek Macedonia during World War I. The vast coordinated control plan established on this front from 1917 delivered the French infantrymen from malaria and led to victory over the Bulgarian forces, which capitulated in September 1918.