Fred Loe, MD, and the History of Trachoma

Abstract

Trachoma has been one of the most blinding diseases in the history of ophthalmology. From its initial description in antiquity until the late 1930s, no specific treatment or effective cure had been known, and the only expedient had been to destroy the diseased tissue containing the infectious agent, rendering the disease inactive. Virtually all medical, mechanical, and surgical treatments were unsatisfactory, with cure rates of approximately 20%. Therapy for trachoma had barely advanced from the measures used by the ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman physicians. All prior therapies became obsolete in 1938 when Fred Loe, MD, working on an American Indian reservation, introduced sulfanilamide as a treatment of trachoma, achieving a 90% cure rate. One of the most unusual aspects of Loe's career was that he had no formal training in ophthalmology and was completely self-taught as an ophthalmologist.