Grace Eldering

Grace Eldering (1900–1988) was an American public health scientist, known for her involvement in the creation of a vaccine for whooping cough along with Pearl Kendrick.

Biography

Childhood and education

Born in Rancher, Montana, Eldering's parents had immigrated to the United States before she was born, with her mother having arrived from Scotland and her father from the Netherlands.[1] She contracted and survived whooping cough when she was five, leading to her involvement in science in her adulthood.[2] Eldering obtained a Bachelor of Science from the University of Montana and then went on to teach at Hysham High School for an English class and a Biology class. She continued her education later in life and earned a Ph.D. in science in 1942 from Johns Hopkins University.[3]

Career

In 1928, Eldering moved to work for the State Department of Health in Lansing, Michigan and conducted "routine bacteriologic analysis". She later joined Pearl Kendrick and Loney Clinton Gordon to work on growing samples of pertussis bacteria in 1932. The development of the vaccine for pertussis also included the first "large-scale controlled clinical trial for pertussis vaccine".[3] This was conducted by setting up a large network of medical professionals and neighborhood organizations in order to obtain large samples of pertussis from as many different patients as possible. Kendrick and Eldering started a "cough plate diagnostic service" on November 1, 1932, whereby cough plates of suspected infected individuals could be sent in for confirmation. This also allowed them to determine the time period of infectivity of pertussis and when those infected were at highest risk of infecting others around them. In addition, they set up a method of quarantine for Grand Rapids that would keep any outbreaks from spreading and required a 35-day period of isolation for infected patients. Within three years, their methods had become an official routine for the county and the state at large.[3]

While these methods had allowed Kendrick and Eldering to make specific vaccines for those infected, they didn't begin work on a general vaccine until late 1933. Their outreach system among physicians, city officials, and school administrations allowed rapid inoculation of children and other city inhabitants. They continued working on refining their inoculation methods through 1938, when they instituted a three vaccine system that involved less of the inactivated bacteria, but was found to be much more effective at providing resistance to infection. Mass production of this new version began across Michigan in 1938 and nationwide by 1940.[3]

Eldering later retired in 1951 from the State Department and lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan where she "engaged in volunteer service for the blind and the physically handicapped".[4] She also remained director of the Grand Rapids laboratory until 1969 when she officially retired and died in 1988.[2]

Accolades

Eldering was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1983 for her work in public health.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Burns, Virginia (2006). "Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering: Sisters in Science". Bold Women in Michigan History. Mountain Press Publishing. pp. 69–78. ISBN 9780878425259. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Grace Eldering; Helped Develop Whooping Cough Vaccine". Los Angeles Times. September 3, 1988. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Carolyn G. Shapiro-Shapin (August 2010). "Pearl Kendrick, Grace Eldering, and the Pertussis Vaccine". Emerging Infectious Diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 16 (8): 1273–1278. doi:10.3201/eid1608.100288. PMC 3298325. PMID 20678322. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Grace Eldering". Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame. Michigan Humanities Council. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
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