Arthur Felix | |
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| Born | (1887-04-03)3 April 1887 |
| Died | 17 January 1956(1956-01-17) (aged 68) |
| Known for | Weil–Felix test |
| Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Microbiology |
| Institutions | Lister Institute |
Arthur Felix,FRS[1] (3 April 1887 inAndrychów – 17 January 1956 inEngland) was a Polish-bornmicrobiologist andserologist.[2][3]
Arthur Felix was the son of Theodor Felix, who had an interest in printed textiles and who encouraged his son to study textile dye chemistry. Felix studied chemistry in Vienna and was awarded aDoctor of Science degree. After working in his father's textile printing factory, he returned to Vienna to studymicrobiology.[1] Arthus Felix wasJewish;[4] he became interested in Zionism during his student days in Vienna and later developed into an authority on Palestine.[5]
In 1915, Arthur Felix andEdmund Weil were Austrian medical officers working in a field laboratory inSokal and discovered a diagnostic test for patients withtyphus that makes use of an antibody cross reaction to a strain ofProteusbacillus that had been isolated fromurine.[6] They developed theWeil–Felix test for diagnosis of typhus and otherrickettsial diseases.[7] The use of the O and H symbols in theKauffman–White classification originates from the research by Edmund Weil and Arthur Felix.
In 1934, Felix identified the Viantigen in patients withtyphoid fever.[8] The discovery of Vi antigen was done in collaboration with Miss R. Margaret Pitt.[1] Pitt co-authored many publications with Felix throughout her career, although not much is known about her as misogyny kept her from the proper recognition she deserved as a scientist.[9][10][11]
Felix and Pitt isolated theSalmonella Typhi strain Ty2, which is still in use in laboratory research today.[1] Ty2 was the basis for theTy21a vaccine strain, a live attenuated strain used to protect patients from typhoid fever today. Ty2 was isolated from a patient inKherson in 1918.[1] Ty2 was investigated due to its ability to avoid agglutination in rabbit serum, which Felix and Pitt later determined was due to the production of Vi capsule which inhibits binding of O antigen.[9] He and Pitt also then went on to discover antigens present inParatyphi A and B.[1] He also co-authored a comprehensive review of what was known about typhoid fever and diagnosis with another female scientist, Miss M. Rhodes.[12][13]
Much of the foundational knowledge abouttyphoid fever pathology, diagnosis of typhoid fever, and the foundational work that lead to the two typhoid vaccines in use today are contributed by Dr. Felix and his colleagues.
AfterWorld War I, Felix emigrated to Britain[14] and worked at theLister Institute.
Felix researched inBielsko,Vienna,Prague, andLondon. Between 1927 and 1945, he worked inJerusalem for theHadassah Medical Organization.
In 1943 he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society.[1]
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