Simon R. Blatteis

Simon Risefeld Blatteis (March 27, 1876 – June 11, 1968)[1] was an Austrian-born American pathologist and professor of medicine who led several efforts against infectious disease in New York.

He attended the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1893 to 1894, but "his studies were interrupted for two years because of lack of funds",[3] and he received his M.D.

[16] Polio was a poorly understood disease at the time, and the epidemic subsided in the winter months, after over 2,000 deaths and many more paralysations, with the cause remaining a mystery to investigators and the public.

[3][7] In 1917, Blatteis was named chief of the division of epidemiology of the Department of Health,[6] in which capacity Blatteis led numerous additional efforts against epidemics of infectious disease, primarily influenza, and was also the physician who supervised Sara Josephine Baker in the latter's efforts to find and quarantine Mary Mallon (popularly known as Typhoid Mary).

[19] At the 25th annual meeting of the Second District Branch of the Medical Society of the State of New York, Blatteis spoke on the question on how much the patient should be told, concluding that the answer was "as little of possible", a view that was prevalent in that era.

[9] In 1935, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia honored Blatteis as one of twelve doctors from the Jewish Hospital to receive a Certificate for Distinguished and Exceptional Service to the city.

[1][21][7] Interviewed in his home in 1948, having practiced medicine for over 50 years, Blatteis said that "pessimism and a sour outlook on life" were more harmful than diseases, and that "work, coupled with sufficient relaxation and diversion" were the keys to longevity.

[24] Blatteis retired to Miami Beach, Florida by the 1950s, although he remained a consulting physician for Brooklyn Jewish Hospital.