Schick, Bela

Schick, Bela (1877–1967) pediatrician; born in Bolgar, Hungary. On the medical faculty at the University of Vienna, Austria (1902–23), he was a pioneer in studying childhood diseases such as scarlet fever, infantile diarrhea, diphtheria, and other diseases such as tuberculosis, serum sickness, and allergies, a new field of medicine. He developed what came to be known as the Schick test (1913), which determines a child's susceptibility to diphtheria. In 1923, he came to Mt. Sinai Hospital (New York City) to direct pediatrics, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1929. Recipient of the Howland Medal (1954), he helped found the American Academy of Pediatrics. In addition to various specialized works, he wrote Child Care Today (1933).