Pioneering the Practice of Medicine
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Pioneering the Practice of Medicine: Dr. George Johnson
When Dr. George Johnson joined MeritCare in 1970, he brought expertise as a pediatrician – and acclaim as a "medical detective." His groundbreaking work led to the identification of a rare, flu-like disease that can prove fatal if not promptly diagnosed and properly treated.
The mystery began in 1962. Working for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a communicable disease control officer in North Carolina, Dr. Johnson noted a rapid increase in reports of encephalitis-like disease in children, including several deaths. His investigation led to a paper he presented at a CDC meeting in Atlanta.
"I was 27 years old when I wrote that paper and scared of my own shadow," he recalled. "But I knew I had something hot – all these kids were dying in North Carolina during this Influenza B epidemic." The paper was downplayed, but Dr. Johnson continued to seek publication.
Six months after the CDC's rejection, a similar report from Dr. R. Douglas Reye, a prominent Australian physician, was published in the British medical journal The Lancet. Dr. Johnson's study was published the same month in the North Carolina Medical Journal. Identified and described by both physicians at approximately the same time, Reye's syndrome is also known as Reye-Johnson syndrome.