Submitted by Aspergillus Administrator on 18 May 2012
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| Dr Bill Frankland |
Dr Bill Frankland was 100 years old on 19th March 2012 and shows no sign of slowing down. Aptly named the ‘Grandfather of Allergy’ he played a big part in the acceptance of allergy as a medical condition in the middle parts of last century, at a time when it was relatively ignored by the medical profession.
Bill was responsible for the acceptance of some of the precautions that allergy sufferers now take for granted, for example it was he who first gained acceptance for the regular publishing of the pollen count as a means for sufferers to help predict hay fever.
It was also Frankland who predicted problems with allergy to penicillin while working alongside Fleming at St. Mary’s Hospital, London in the 1940’s which Fleming (the discoverer of penicillin) apparently disagreed with.
He was one of the first to support the principle of desensitisation as a means to reduce an allergic response and is a keen advocate of the ‘Hygiene theory‘ that contends that our children become allergic & asthmatic because they live in an environment that is too clean in their early years.
There are many more tributes to Dr Frankland in the media that tell several more stories about him (1, 2), and tributes from the Anaphylaxis Campaign that he helped set up (3), but suffice it to say that his attitude to life, his longevity and his work make him an inspiration to all all. We hope there will be many more years of enjoying your work sir!
A life in Allergy – the extraordinary story of Bill Frankland
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