Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Koch–Weeks bacillus Pronunciation:
-'wEks- Function:
noun : a bacterium of the genus
Haemophilus (
H. aegyptius) associatedwith an infectious form of human conjunctivitis —compare
PFEIFFER'S BACILLUS Weeks, JohnElmer (1853–1949), American ophthalmologist. Weeks founded a clinical laboratory for ophthalmology which came to be known for its outstanding work in bacteriological and pathologicalstudies. His personal accomplishments included the development of a method for using X rays to locate foreign bodies in the eye, an operation for the surgical reconstruction of the orbit, methods forthe surgical treatment of trachoma and glaucoma, and the invention of a new instrument for the extraction of cataracts. In 1886, independently of Robert Koch, he isolated the bacterium, now known asthe Koch-Weeks bacillus, which causes an infectious form of conjunctivitis. He confirmed the identification by successfully inoculating one of his own eyes.
