Kaohsiung Medical University established Tropical Medical Center

Article /photo by Nien-Tsu Hsia

The study of neural poison substance gives Taiwan an important role in the biochemistry field. In order to train medical talents, study parasites, help Taiwan join the World Health Organization, and avoid epidemics from abroad, the Kaohsiung Medical University decides to….

Recently in a domestic medical seminar, an authoritative doctor from the National Taiwan University offered a rare case for discussion. While the participants trying to comprehend the syndromes, a doctor described with full composure, "the infectious disease with Philippines filariasis." The speaker applauded and said "the Kaohsiung Medical University is indeed a professional in parasite study!"

Because of the endlessly large numbers of contagious diseases and the needs of training international cooperation medical talents, Kaohsiung Medical University established, in 2000, the Tropical Medical Center, the only one in Taiwan in this field.

Professor Ying-lin Chen, consultant of Department of Health, said that WHO has been concentrating on the medical assisting projects in least developed countries and if Taiwan can show its sincerity and ability, it would be a great help for Taiwan entering the WHO. Taiwan can wait no longer to raise the level of its tropical medicine profession.

A crying need to train talents
Kaohsiung Medical University, which was upgraded from medical college in 1999, is not only the cradle of parasite study in Taiwan, but also the medical college that specialized in the tropical medicine and public health program. KMU has developed tropical medicine study for 33 years within its 45-year history, and we cannot talk of its history without mentioning Chien-chung Yang, Hsien-chen Hsieh, Ying-lin Chen, and Kao-bin Huang.

Tropical medical, as defined by pediatrician Kao-bin Huang, is "the specific type of disease in tropical zone." He pointed out that because of the bad environment and the shortage of medical resources, parasites, viruses, and bacteria easily infect the residents in tropical zone. There are many of tropical diseases, of which parasite, pest, yellow fever, dengue fever, malaria, and cholera are the famous ones existing in Taiwan.

Dr. Huang pointed out that those tourists and foreign laborers brought some epidemic diseases to Taiwan. The fact that most of the young doctors did not have enough training in tropical diseases may be the cause of the delay in adequate treatment. This situation has made the Department of Health aware of the urgency of training tropical medical talents.

In 1967, thinking that many kinds of tropical diseases have been reported in Kaohsiung City, Professor Chien-chung Yang, who was the third dean of Kaohsiung Medical College then, established the Tropical Medical Research Center. The snake poison study team lead by Professor Yang and Professor Chun-chang Chang, received high recognition for its local neural poison substance of poison snake.

Hsien-chen Hsieh eradicated parasite for African
Hsien-chen Hsieh, the fourth dean of Kaohsiung Medical College, is the one who leads KMC's tropical medicine study into the flourish level. There was one time that Taiwan got more than one million malaria patients (about one-sixth of population then), and Dr. Hsieh should receive credits for eradicating malaria completely from Taiwan. Dr. Hsieh and his student Dr. Ying-lin Chen were assigned as the official doctors to provide consultation and treatment on tropical diseases for Taiwan's diplomats and representatives.

Dr. Chen is inspired by Dr. Hsieh and helped him do academic studies instead of becoming a clinical doctor. He admires Dr. Hsieh, who had been WHO's parasite consultant, for his devotion of eradicating parasite for more than 60 countries in Africa. Dr. Hsieh spent nine years in Africa and saved many lives during his stay. He indeed provided the most successful people-to-people diplomacy.

Helping Dr. Hsieh study hookworm, Dr. Chen had stayed in Liberia for one year to study the worm body. It was an unforgettable experience because he received much satisfaction from his devotion in this least developed lands and made many friends from other countries. Moreover, he collected many rarely seen parasite specimen that provided precious material for studying.

Dr. Chen, who graduated from the Tropical Medical School in University of London as well as Dr. Hsieh, noted that it was an English doctor who came to Kaohsiung in 1866 to study tropical disease and then established the first tropical medical school in the world after he went back to London. Decades later, it was Dr. Hsieh and Dr. Chen who studied in that same school to improve Taiwan's tropical disease treatment. Tropical disease study is indeed indispensable to Taiwan medical study.

Taking himself as guinea pig
In 1977, Dr. Hsieh established the first tropical medical graduate school in Kaohsiung Medical University (Kaohsiung Medical College then) after a long endeavor. There were ten students in the first year, divided into tropical medicine (academic) and tropical clinical medicine (clinical). After four years, Kaohsiung Medical University established its doctoral school. In order to make resources used more effectively, the tropical medical school merged into medical school and tropical medical education ends its remarkable history.

Dr. Chen remembers that Dr. Hsieh took himself as the guinea pig to study how long would a hookworm live. He put a dozen of hookworms on his arms and let these worms get into his body. His experiment provided a new record of five years instead of three years.

Innovating new skills for treatment
Dr. Kao-bin Huang, second year graduate from the KMU Tropical Medicine School, earned the doctoral degree from KMU for his Angiostrongylys Cantonensis study. When he talks about the parasite special clinic in KMU that was established in 1982, he feels nothing but proud and happy.

He pointed out that the parasite disease was very serious in southern Taiwan. There was one time that the infectious rate of Chinese Hepatic Schistosomiasis reached 90 present in Meinon area in Kaohsiung County. Local residents used to go to the special clinic together by bus, and made this clinic the hottest one in the hospital. After study, doctors found that the fact that residents ate fish raised in fish pools polluted by pig farm refuse is the main reason for Chinese Hepatic Schistosomiasis. Dr. Huang started a public health campaign to provide correct health knowledge. The effort lowered infectious rate to under 10 percent.

Angioustrongylus cantonensis, which was so populous in Ping-tong and Kaohsiung County, used to take many lives every year. However, the correct diagnosis rate was low, and the treatment was not effective. Dr. Huang innovated the pump lumbar puncture diagnosis technology to improve diagnosis rate and treatment.

The KMU and the Association of Parasite Prevention of ROC cooperated to design a 30-year, six periods parasite prevention plan. They work through public health education, parasite medicine, and clinical treatment to decrease the roundworm infectious rate in school children to two percent from 75 percent.

Studying epidemic into deep Mainland China
Besides the successful experience in parasite and malaria research, dengue fever study is another outstanding performance of KMU. In 1987, dengue fever spread violently in Kaohsiung City. Due to the efforts of KMU team members, the disease was controlled successfully and KMU became one of Taiwan's important institutes in dengue fever.

During 1993-1995, Dr. Hsien, who had retired from KMU, did not stop his work on epidemic prevention in least developed places. He and Dr. Huang went to almost every corner of Mainland China to conduct epidemic research. In 1996, the two doctors finished the "Report of epidemic diseases in Mainland China" that helps people who visit Mainland China in prevention of epidemic diseases.

This book is another example of Dr. Hsieh's devotion to medical research. He brought a variety of medicines to treat all kinds of symptoms. In 1990, days before he was to receive the Award of Devotion to Medical Science, Dr. Hsieh passed away, and this book became the most priceless memory Dr. Huang had of Dr. Hsieh.

Gap of the tropical medicine study
Dr. Huang admitted that there is a gap of the tropical medicine study in Taiwan. One reason is the abolishment of Tropical Medicine School. Recently, the board of directors discussed setting up a Tropical Medicine Center to integrate related areas such as infection, clinical immunology, epidemic, biochemistry, and disease control. The objective is to become Taiwan's base station of tropical medical study and to assist in the prevention of tropical diseases as well as to cooperate with international organizations in tropical medicine study.