{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T13:47:57Z","timestamp":1780667277961,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,1]],"date-time":"2022-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1640995200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/journals\/pages\/open_access\/funder_policies\/chorus\/standard_publication_model"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,24]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>When Antoni van Leeuwenhoek began his work with microscopes in the late 17th century, western medicine was mostly based on the work of a Roman doctor called Galen (129\u2013199 ad), theological interpretation, superstition, and folk remedies. During modern discussions of Van Leeuwenhoek's work, a common question from listeners is why it took so long for the link between Van Leeuwenhoek's discoveries and infectious disease to be accepted. Published literature, examples of which are discussed here, shows that many researchers, doctors, and others reported the link, even during Van Leeuwenhoek's lifetime. However, it was frequently not taken seriously by the most influential people. The scientific establishment included a faction of the Royal Society of London who called themselves the \u2018Mechanical Philosophers\u2019. They ridiculed those reporting animalcule-linked infection, dismissing them as \u2018Contagionists\u2019. The medical establishment also included many influential people with a lot to lose if they changed their established approaches, and many quack doctors. Most religious ministers were strongly orthodox, some even claiming that helping the sick angered God. A major problem, of course, was that technology and biological understanding also lagged far behind. Despite the fact that the use of vaccination was under active discussion in the Royal Society at the time of Van Leeuwenhoek's death and quarantine was in regular use, a possible microbial connection was apparently not considered. It was not until late in the 19th century, that Robert Koch (1843\u20131910) isolated Bacillus anthracis, proved that it caused anthrax, and was believed. This paper follows a lecture given during the online Microbe Forum in June 2021, and illustrates the difficulties of establishing the true link between Van Leeuwenhoek's animalcules and infectious disease in humans, animals, and plants.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/femsle\/fnac022","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,4]],"date-time":"2022-03-04T20:11:49Z","timestamp":1646424709000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The vanishing link between animalcules and disease before the 19th century"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"369","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2119-7386","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lesley A","family":"Robertson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology and Science Centre, Delft University of Technology , Van der Burgweg 1, 2628CS Delft, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib2","article-title":"Lens onLeeuwenhoek","author":"Anderson","year":"2022"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"890","DOI":"10.1098\/rstl.1677.0023","article-title":"Some considerations of an observing person in the country upon numb. 133 of these tracts, sent in a letter to the publisher of May 2, 1677","volume":"12","author":"","year":"1677","journal-title":"Phil Trans R Soc"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib3","volume-title":"The Microscope Made Easy","author":"Baker","year":"1742"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib4","first-page":"1296","article-title":"An abstract of part of a letter from Dr Bonomo to Signor Redi, containing some observations concerning the worms of humane bodies","volume":"23","author":"Bonomo","year":"1703","journal-title":"Philos Trans R Soc Lond"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib8","volume-title":"A General Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening; Containing a New System of Vegetation","author":"Bradley","year":"1726"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib6","volume-title":"New Improvements of Planting and Gardening Both Philosophical and Practical","author":"Bradley","year":"1718"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib9","volume-title":"New Improvements of Planting and Gardening Both Philosophical and Practical","author":"Bradley","year":"1739"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"490","DOI":"10.1098\/rstl.1714.0062","article-title":"Some microscopical observations, and curious remarks on the vegetation and exceeding quick propogation of moldiness, on the substance of a melon","volume":"29","author":"Bradley","year":"1714","journal-title":"Phil Trans R Soc"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib7","volume-title":"The Plague at Marseilles Considered With Remarks Upon the Plague in General, Shewing its Cause and Nature of Infection, With Necessary Precautions to Prevent the Spreading of that Direful Distemper","author":"Bradley","year":"1721"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib10","volume-title":"A Practical Treatise of the Plague and all Pestilential Infections that have Happen'd in this Island for the Last Century","author":"Browne","year":"1720"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib11","first-page":"743","article-title":"Edward Jenner, FRS, 1749 \u20131823, notes and records of the Royal Society of London","volume":"7","author":"Cameron","year":"1949","journal-title":"R Soc Lond"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib12","first-page":"42","volume-title":"The History of the Microscope","author":"Clay","year":"1932"},{"key":"2022070116262373700_bib13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1660","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-137-57529-6","volume-title":"The Germ of an Idea. 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