This text is part of the special section 100 years of Acfas
Around 1933, a young Canadian doctor landed in Montreal after a long Atlantic crossing. In his suitcases, a cargo well special: the strain of tuberculosis bacteria, which would be used to produce the BCG vaccine in Canada.
“Armand Frappier is a superstar in the history of science in French Canada,” says François Cartier, archivist at the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS). The Dr Frappier, who gave his name to the institute which is now part of INRS, to a foundation and to a museum, indeed played an important role in the fight against tuberculosis, this infectious disease nicknamed “white plague”.
A devastating disease
At the beginning of the XXe century, tuberculosis claimed many lives, in addition to affecting cattle herds. “You have to go back to that time to understand the innovative spirit and the importance of Armand Frappier,” explains Rosemonde Mandeville, president of the Board of the Armand-Frappier Health Museum and former professor-researcher at the Armand-Frappier Institute. Strike.
At the time, there was little understanding of how infectious diseases worked and the importance of good hygiene to prevent transmission.
Quebec then occupies a sad position in Canada in terms of morbidity. The death of his brother, of his grandmother, but especially of his mother, marks the young Armand. “He decided to dedicate his career to tuberculosis”, summarizes Mme Mandeville. After studying medicine, Armand Frappier studied immunology, prophylaxis and vaccination in the United States, then at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. It was there that researchers had been working on a vaccine against tuberculosis since 1908, research which would culminate in 1921. The vaccine was subsequently used in humans and cattle, and Canada quickly became interested in it.
A vaccine, a know-how
In 1933, production was entrusted to Frappier, trained with Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin, the two discoverers of the bacillus vaccine named in their name (BCG, for bacille calmette-guérin).
He brought the new strain back from Paris and undertook to revise production procedures, reorganizing the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Montreal.
“He brought back in his suitcase the strain, but also the know-how and the Pasteur method”, underlines Mr. Cartier.
Because it was not enough to produce a vaccine; it still had to be done under hygienic conditions. “In the 1930s and 1940s, it was complicated to grow bacteria in a laboratory,” recalls Frédéric Veyrier, professor at the Armand-Frappier Institute of INRS. “There was no quality control and people did not understand that the vaccine could not be prepared just any way,” adds Rosemonde Mandeville.
The Dr Frappier thus taught his colleagues how to prepare the vaccine, giving a lecture on the subject as part of the very first Acfas congress in 1933. He worked to raise awareness among the general population about the effectiveness of the vaccine and the importance of good hygienic conditions. Aware of the ravages of tuberculosis among the Aboriginal populations, he himself went to the Crees of Waswanipi to initiate vaccination.
An innovative institute
After working in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal, teaching there and being responsible for the vaccine production laboratory, Armand Frappier founded the Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene of Montreal in 1938. The institute will move in 1962 in Laval, then in 1999 will become one of the constituents of INRS.
Housed at the time in the main building of the Université de Montréal, the institute was inspired by the Pasteur model, which links teaching, research and production. “BCG vaccine research and production will be among the main activities of the first decades of the institute,” says Mr. Cartier. The financial gains made by the sale of the vaccines produced are reinjected into fundamental research.
Armand Frappier, the builder
Knowing how to surround himself with a multidisciplinary team (veterinarians, biologists, chemists, etc.), the Dr Frappier participated in the emergence of the French-speaking scientific community in Quebec.
“He knew that to succeed, you needed a team around. He was a builder,” says M.me Mandeville. “He was a facilitator, a spark plug. He was an excellent teacher, researcher and doctor, but he was also astute in his relationships,” remarks Mr. Cartier.
“All the research he has put in place is invaluable,” said Mr. Veyrier in turn. Over the decades, the institute has conducted research on polio, tetanus, influenza… Even today, Montreal remains a central hub for research on infectious diseases.