Pioneer of life-saving vaccines dies
Mahmoud developed vaccine against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox
Few people knew him in his homeland of Egypt until he died and American business magnate Bill Gates tweeted about it.
Dr Adel Mahmoud, who passed away last week, was an infectious disease expert and had been credited for the development of many life-saving vaccines. Mahmoud died on June 11 in New York at age 76.
He passed away at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital following a brain haemorrhage, according to his wife, Dr. Sally Hodder.
Medical breakthroughs
As president of Merck Vaccines from 1998 until 2006, Mahmoud oversaw the creation and marketing of several vaccines that brought major advances in public health.
One of the vaccines he developed helped protect against gastroenteritis caused by Rotavirus infection, which causes diarrhoea in children.
He also developed a vaccine for shingles viral infection, which causes a painful rash, as well as another one for human papillomavirus, which causes various warts on genitals and other parts and is also associated with the production of cervical cancer.
He also produced a combination vaccine against four diseases: measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.
Mahmoud was born in Cairo, the oldest of three children. He received his medical degree from Cairo University in 1963.