In 1906
Dr. Edward H. Hume attached great importance to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases when Yale Hospital (later known as Xiangya Hospital) was established. He made great efforts to prevent and treat diphtheria and smallpox in Changsha.
Notice by Dr. Edward H. Hume, President of Yale Hospital, to prevent diphtheria
When the plague epidemic outbroke in Hubei province, Dr. Yan Fuqing who worked at Yale Hospital was invited to Hankou to guide epidemic prevention and control. He set up a health service in the district (Beijing-Hanko railway) and injected Haffkin plague vaccine into each service member. He also mobilized all sectors of society to engage in epidemic prevention and encouraged people to kill rats with rewards. By doing so, the plague prevention and control achieved great success.
Photo of medics fighting against plague along Beijing-Hankou railway.The 5thfrom left in the front row is Yan Fuqing.(The original photo is kept in Yale University Library.)
At the outbreak of cholera in western Hunan, Doctor Lv Jingxuan, supported by Professor Liu Zemin, took active responses, and all the medical workers made all-out efforts in rescuing cholera patients. At the time, the mortality rate of cholera patients in foreign literature was 20%, whereas the mortality rate in Yuanling was only 3.7%. The achievement of Yuanling Hospital was therefore acknowledged and highly praised by the Cholera Committee, League of Nations.
Professor Liu Zemin, president of Yuanling Branch and the first director ofthe Dermatology Department ofXiangya Hospital
Aerial view of Yuanling Branch of Xiangya School of Medicine
When an unprecedented cholera epidemic swept through southern China, Dr. Li Zhenpian, regardless of the risk, led his assistants to prevent and control the disease by closing water wells which caused cholera spread and pouring bleaching powder into them. They then constantly tested the cholera bacteria in the water wells until the bacteria disappeared, thus succeeding in cholera control and prevention in the area and protecting nearly 50,000 people from infection.
Dr. Li Zhenpian and his wife TangHanzhiwere received by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1973
In 1941
When Japanese army started bacteriological warfare in Changde, medics of Xiangya such as Tan Xuehua, Lv Jingxuan, Deng Yiwei, and Chen Wengui made promptly moves to identify confirmed cases of plague infection and implement preventative measures proactively, thus preventing the plague from spreading nationwide. The Journal of Xiangya Medical College was the first publication that disclosed the Changde bacteriological warfare launched by the Japanese army.
Cover of the Journal of Xiangya Medical College,Vol. I, No. 5, March 1st, 1942.The 3rdtitle in the Contents was“The Process of Plague Discoveryin Changde, Hunan Province(Summary of Doctor Tan Xuehua’s Letter)”
In 1954
50% of the people in China sufferedfrom trachoma and countlesswere therefore blind.
In 1955
Chlamydia trachomatis agent was first isolated by Tang Feifan, whose paper on this topic received huge responses from the international scientific community. The trachoma infection rate was also greatly reduced by his improvements in treatment methods. To commemorate his outstanding contribution, Tang Feifan commemorative stamp was issued in China on November 22nd, 1992.
Commemorative stamp of Tang Feifan
In 1950
In response to the call of the CPC Central Committee to “eliminate schistosomiasis”, Professor Chen Huxin established Hunan Institute of Parasitic Diseases in Yueyang. He also developed a test method for cercarien hullen reaction (CHR) for schistosomiasis at early diagnosis, and wrote Oncomelania Hupensis and its Control in Dongting Lake in 1975, contributing to efforts in eradicating oncomelania and preventing schistosomiasis.
Professor Chen Huxin and medical workers were doing schistosomiasisprevention and control work by Dongting Lake
In 2014
As Ebola epidemic spread rapidly in West Africa, Xiangya Hospital gathered an international medical team to aid the affected areas in Sierra Leone. In the following year, Xiangya Hospital organized the fifth China (Hunan) medical team to aid Sierra Leone in fighting the Ebola epidemic. Its outstanding performance of “no medical workers infected and all the patients cured” has been highly acknowledged by the international community.
On September 6th, 2018, Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone,and his wife visited Xiangya Hospitaland expressed their gratitude towards Xiangya Hospital,a representative of Hunan medical teams aiding Sierra Leone,for its contributions to improving the health level in Sierra Leone over years
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, everyone in Xiangya braved the challenge and took on their own responsibility. According to the statistics so far, the 3 affiliated Xiangya hospitals of Central South University has sent 603 medical workers to the front line of the battle against COVID-19, of which 461 to Hubei province.
