A Legacy in 20th‐Century Medicine: Robert Allan Phillips and the Taming of Cholera

Abstract

The legacy of Captain Robert Allan Phillips (1906-1976) was to establish effective, evidence-based rehydration methods for the treatment of cholera. As a Navy Lieutenant at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (New York, New York) during World War II, Phillips developed a field method for the rapid assessment of fluid loss in wounded servicemen. After the war, he championed the establishment of United States Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU)-3 (Cairo; 1946) and NAMRU-2 (Taipei; 1955), serving at the helm of both units. Phillips embarked on cholera studies during the 1947 Egyptian cholera epidemic and brought them to maturity at NAMRU-2 (1958-1965), elucidating the pathophysiologic derangements induced by cholera and developing highly efficacious methods of intravenous rehydration. His conception of a simpler cholera treatment was realized in the late 1960s with the development of glucose-based oral rehydration therapy, a monumental breakthrough to which many other investigators made vital contributions. Today, these simple advances have been integrated into everyday medical practice across the globe, saving millions of lives annually.

Can the bowel substitute for the kidney in advanced renal failure?

“…During the 1947 Egyptian cholera epidemic Captain Robert Allan Phillips (1906-1976) devised highly efficacious methods for intravenous fluid repletion 39 . Subsequently, at the United States Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU)-2 in Taipei, Phillips designed a glucose-based oral cholera rehydration therapy to replace the then standard intravenous regimen.…”

Effectiveness of international aid for diarrheal disease control and potential for future impact

“…In the years after the Second World War, cholera was reported across a wide geographic area, from Egypt to Japan and across most of South and South-East Asia. The United States Naval Medical Research Unit performed research during the 1947 cholera outbreak in Egypt, and again during a later outbreak in the Philippines in 1961 (Savarino 2002). The 1950s saw a return to relative calm, with cholera reports limited mostly to India and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), where cholera is endemic.…”

United States Military Tropical Medicine: Extraordinary Legacy, Uncertain Future

“…One of the most critical interventions developed by the US military was the development by Capt Robert Phillips of IV therapy to combat cholera and drastically decrease the fatality rate from 60% to <1% which earned him the Lasker Award in 1967. [25]. In addition, many life-saving interventions have already been licensed such as mefloquine, Malarone, and the hepatitis A and Japanese encephalitis vaccines.…”