Endre Hőgyes
| Born | 1847 |
| Died | 1906 |
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Biography of Endre Hőgyes
Endre Hőgyes received his medical diploma in 1870 at the University of Pest, where he became a teacher. From 1875 he was a professor of pathophysiology and later of pharmacology. In 1890, he founded the Hungarian Pasteur Institute, becoming its first director. He was a prominent figure of the Hungarian scientific life in the 19th century, founding and heading several societies and editing different scientific publications. He is perhaps most famous for his contributions to the development of the vaccination against the Lyssa virus, the deadly agent causing rabies.
Even though he is best known for his advances in infectology, Hőgyes posessed a broad scientific interest having discovered the reflex, connecting the eye-muscles to the semicircular ear channels, the neuronal mechanisms of the associated movements of the eyes, the separate blood supply of the medulla and cortex of the kidney as well as the excreting function of the renal tubules.
Hőgyes’ diluting method
The original anti-rabies vaccination was developed by Pasteur who used a so-called „drying” technique. Hőgyes’ diluting method proved to be more effective than the original version, which is certified by the fact that it has only recently been succeeded by a newer method.
Pasteur’s technique applied an injection of previously dried and then emulsified spinal cord of infected animals. Hőgyes developed a technique in which he produced solutions with known viral count, by diluting samples extracted from the spinal cords. Then, he administered this vaccine in increasing concentrations resulting in immunity against the virus and considerably decreased mortality upon infection compared to the original method. Thanks to this, the diluting vaccination method of Hőgyes became widely used.
We thank dr Peter Hauser, Budapest, for information submitted.
