Chao Yuanfang: Imperial Physician of the Sui Dynasty and an Early Pertussis Observer?

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2016 Jan 29;3(1):ofw017. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofw017. eCollection 2016 Jan.

Abstract

Early Chinese texts contain extensive disease descriptions, including various texts that contain descriptions of modern-day conditions. During the Sui Dynasty, a leading scholar, Chao Yuanfang, may have authored a leading treatise 1400 years ago. Although these texts are the subject of ongoing research, evidence suggests that a clinical syndrome consistent with pertussis was observed in ancient China.