Pasteur stations in Russia

Before Louis Pasteur developed the vaccine against rabies, Russia attempted to combat this disease with incantations, cauterizing wounds with hot iron, and other ineffective methods. For example, in the 19th century, an article was published in the "Government Herald" about treating hydrophobia using a Russian bath.

Pasteur's discovery in 1885 was a true salvation. People bitten by rabid animals began to travel to Paris. Among the first 2500 saved thanks to the vaccine were 16 out of 19 residents of Smolensk province who were bitten by a wolf. All could have survived, but three did not receive help in time: the city council meeting in Beloe, where 16 thousand rubles were to be allocated for the trip, took place only on the third day after the incident, and for another two days, the victims waited for a doctor to accompany them. In total, 44 people from Russia came to Pasteur, bitten by rabid animals, from Smolensk, Oryol, Penza, Vladimir, Tver, and Kostroma provinces.

A resolution by Alexander III remains preserved on a letter from the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, who requested funds for trips to France: "Receive 700 rubles from Taneyev. It is very desirable to send at least the most dangerous cases to Paris to Pasteur, who is very interested in rabid wolf bites, as he has not yet had such a patient." Later, the emperor donated about 100 thousand francs for the opening of the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Pasteur stations soon began to open around the world, and Russia became one of the leading countries in this regard. The first rabies vaccination station in the Russian Empire (and the second in the world) was opened in Odessa on June 11, 1886, and a month later, a similar station appeared in Moscow. Louis Pasteur sent his portrait with an autograph for its opening. This portrait is still kept at the I.I. Mechnikov Moscow Scientific Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera, which was established on its basis. One of the initiators of the creation of the Moscow station was Nikolai Sklifosovsky.