An allergy pioneer who popularized the pollen count, United Kingdom
Dr. William Frankland, 108, an allergy pioneer who popularized the pollen count, died from Covid19 in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2020.
The pioneering work of Dr Frankland, a British immunologist who transformed the world’s understanding of allergies, included developing the idea of a pollen count to help hay fever sufferers.
Dr Frankland, whose medical career spanned 70 years, was known as “the grandfather of allergy”.
As a British army doctor in World War Two, he spent three-and-a-half years in Japanese prisoner of war camps.
Historian Dan Snow tweeted he would never forget meeting Dr Frankland, who he called “one of the greatest Britons”.
Prof Adam Fox, president of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, said he was “an enormous inspiration to many”, adding that he would be “sorely missed but very fondly remembered”.
Dr Frankland, known as Bill, gave an interview ahead of his 108th birthday on 19 March, saying his longevity was down to luck.
He said: “I’ve come close to death so many times – from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, three-and-a-half years spent as a Japanese prisoner of war, to experiencing anaphylaxis following a tropical insect bite – but somehow I’ve always managed to miss it and that’s why I’m still here.”