Jean Charles Faget

Jean Charles Faget was a medical doctor born on June 26, 1818, in New Orleans.

Personal life

Faget was the grandson of Jean Faget and Marie-Anne Normand. His parents were refugees from Santo Domingo (Saint-Domingue). They fled Hispaniola during the Haitian Revolution and spent some time in Cuba before settling in New Orleans in 1809. The origin of the disease is most likely to be Africa, from where it was introduced to South America through the slave trade in the 16th century. During Faget's lifetime, yellow fever was deemed one of the most dangerous infectious diseases.

Faget worked to recognize the correct diagnosis of yellow fever. The earliest accepted signs of the fever were jaundice and vomit containing blood. Faget was convinced that other fevers had the same symptoms. He sought better ways to distinguish yellow fever from other ailments. Other physicians began to notice that their patients with yellow fever shared a common symptom. Early in their illness they experience an increased pulse that was followed by a slow pulse. Faget confirmed these observations and came to the conclusion that the pulse change was unique to those with yellow fever. Faget died in New Orleans on December 7, 1884.