On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart: debunking an urban legend

He never said it! In SO MANY SEMINARS on Infectious Diseases I've heard somebody quote this remark but the guy never said it! https://t.co/bCyeNvtT5k

@captgouda24 @asymmetricinfo How six decades ago (1) so many in academia concluded that "It is time to close the book on infectious diseases, and declare the war against pestilence won”; and, (2) the U.S. Surgeon General got blamed for it: https://t.co/xNH

@FadyPEC @visualplague Here you go: https://t.co/7rOVrWQ9ja Personal papers & paper-based archives were not consulted by the researchers.

If you're writing about #monkeypox ...

RT @compound607: An interesting piece on very famous but wrongly attributed quote #Infection #infectious https://t.co/7NES1VrOiI

An interesting piece on very famous but wrongly attributed quote #Infection #infectious https://t.co/7NES1VrOiI

RT @larsen_da: Turns out it is apocryphal. He never said this, although the attitude was around at the time given the polio vaccination suc…

Turns out it is apocryphal. He never said this, although the attitude was around at the time given the polio vaccination successes. I had a good time reading this article: https://t.co/fmcjzMfsKn

RT @btaylorblake: If you're writing about Covid: no, Surgeon General William H. Stewart never proclaimed in 1967 (or any other time) that "…

RT @btaylorblake: If you're writing about Covid: no, Surgeon General William H. Stewart never proclaimed in 1967 (or any other time) that "…

RT @eoinaldo: "It is time to close the book on infectious diseases, and declare the war against pestilence won" is one of the most infamous…

RT @eoinaldo: "It is time to close the book on infectious diseases, and declare the war against pestilence won" is one of the most infamous…

RT @eoinaldo: "It is time to close the book on infectious diseases, and declare the war against pestilence won" is one of the most infamous…

"It is time to close the book on infectious diseases, and declare the war against pestilence won" is one of the most infamous quotes in public health history. But no one ever said it?! Some nice detective work on how the urban legend was spread https://t.

“It is time to close the book on infectious diseases, and declare the war against pestilence won.” 「今こそ，感染症の本を閉じ，疫病との戦いに勝利したことを宣言する時だ」 米国のSurgeon GeneralだったWilliam H. Stewartによるものとされてきたが，彼はそんなことは言っていなかった。

How an infamous quote on the US closing the book on infectious diseases was, in fact, fake news Thanks @BradSpellberg off to edit a couple of slide decks 🤔 https://t.co/55Iw7rRWWI

RT @BradSpellberg: Agree the quote is impressive. And widely quoted. And not Dr. Rice's fault for quoting it like everyone else. But... Dr…

RT @BradSpellberg: Agree the quote is impressive. And widely quoted. And not Dr. Rice's fault for quoting it like everyone else. But... Dr…

I have to admit that I erroneously used this quote some times... Thank you very much @BradSpellberg for the clarification!

Sorry this tweet is taken from an article by De. Rice #CID and @BradSpellberg kindly clarify that it's not authentic and never happened by a great person who had so many achievements "surgeon general" https://t.co/zTUM7u5q9u

Agree the quote is impressive. And widely quoted. And not Dr. Rice's fault for quoting it like everyone else. But... Dr. Stewart NEVER SAID ANY SUCH THING! See https://t.co/fzIs1eFJLj There are other, verified quotes that are equally dramatic that shoul

@Alkalimeter @LingTolls @politicalmath We worried about MRSA and other microbes evolving countermeasures to our defenses just a few years ago. We should worry more. Here's a paper on how many prominent academics (but not the U.S.S.G) came to believe we'd d

@ryhertzberger https://t.co/RhHfcIwvsH

@J_D_Klein Hey, given your myriad interests, I thought you wouldn’t mind my pointing out that there’s no evidence that then-Surgeon General William Stewart ever said that. A colleague and I looked, but we could never locate it. (It’s a neat story in itself

RT @BradSpellberg: I thought Bonnie and I had driven a stake through the heart of this urban legend. But it keeps coming back. Surgeon Gen…

RT @BradSpellberg: I thought Bonnie and I had driven a stake through the heart of this urban legend. But it keeps coming back. Surgeon Gen…

RT @BradSpellberg: I thought Bonnie and I had driven a stake through the heart of this urban legend. But it keeps coming back. Surgeon Gen…

RT @BradSpellberg: I thought Bonnie and I had driven a stake through the heart of this urban legend. But it keeps coming back. Surgeon Gen…

RT @BradSpellberg: I thought Bonnie and I had driven a stake through the heart of this urban legend. But it keeps coming back. Surgeon Gen…

I thought Bonnie and I had driven a stake through the heart of this urban legend. But it keeps coming back. Surgeon General Stewart was an honorable man who doesn’t deserve this smear. He never said it. Let’s stop saying he did.

If you're writing about Covid: no, Surgeon General William H. Stewart never proclaimed in 1967 (or any other time) that "it's time to close the books on infectious diseases." @BradSpellberg and I wrote about this in 2013 https://t.co/GYXdDOojq2. And our 20

Source: https://t.co/pS0wcebIVZ

On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart: debunking an urban legend https://t.co/fsTKkCt6zY 公衆衛生局長官だったウィリアム・スチュアートが67年に感染症との闘いに勝利したと語った…というのは嘘。

While it's not often we get to cite a negative, here's the reference exonerating the US Surgeon General: https://t.co/4TDmqNAJsi

@DrPalssonUNC For what it's worth, Brad Spellberg and I went looking for where Stewart had (allegedly) said this. We looked at many oft-quoted sources and failed to find it. https://t.co/wgZXmLu2gs

RT @ULTweets: @BlackDigitalHum Yes. (I’m the second author.) https://t.co/ou2gBANmVQ

@BlackDigitalHum Yes. (I’m the second author.) https://t.co/ou2gBANmVQ

Yes, and a darnedly good read it is too! Dorothy Crawford repeats the Stewart quote myth in her 2003 book on viruses. That's where I heard it. Great quote, but it seems not true.

Welp, this is odd, but nice to see. I'm co-author, blush, on a paper that casts doubt on whether William H. Stewart, former U.S. surgeon general, ever said such a thing. (TL;DR: He's popularly claimed to have done so, but we found no record of it.) https:/

@bhalomanush FWIW, despite the prevalence of this attribution, there’s no evidence the Surgeon General said this. https://t.co/wgZXmLLDF2

@AmSciMag Oh, no, @AmSciMag, not you, too. There's no evidence that any William H. Stewart or any other U.S. Surgeon General ever said this. Not in 1967, not ever. https://t.co/ou2gBANmVQ and https://t.co/MJsNWjUlx6

RT @btaylorblake: Time to dust off a paper @BradSpellberg and I wrote about whether U.S. Surgeon General W.H. Stewart ever pronounced “It i…

RT @btaylorblake: Time to dust off a paper @BradSpellberg and I wrote about whether U.S. Surgeon General W.H. Stewart ever pronounced “It i…

Time to dust off a paper @BradSpellberg and I wrote about whether U.S. Surgeon General W.H. Stewart ever pronounced “It is time to close the book on infectious diseases and declare the war against pestilence won" sometime in the '60s. (Spoiler: he didn't.)

'One of [infectious diseases'] most famous quotes is false' https://t.co/ovWn7WgDld @specterm, thanks for your awesome piece on Dr. Stewart's quote, and thanks also @carlzimmer btw. It was already on my phd proposal Original ref https://t.co/4gasR1dbc0 #

Though we shouldn’t blame the quote on Dr Stewart anymore it seems https://t.co/wtMWCC7V62

NO TEMPO DAS FAKE NEWS #1 No tempo das fake news, uma das maravilhas da ciência: corrigir-se a si mesma. «Background It is one of the most infamous quotes in the history of biomedicine: “It is time to close the book on... https://t.co/uAhAjEdD3y

@paimadhu @docfreeride @Laurie_Garrett Honestly, this is not surprising. Reminds me of the story of William H. Stewart and how a never-said quote defined a generation. https://t.co/LJkJIfpaXa The tide will change again. The only question is which infectio

@_PabloMB 2) but Stewart never said that either. It’s a misattribution. See, for example, https://t.co/wgZXmLLDF2

Another scientific urban legend -- did Dr. William H. Stewart ever say it was "time to close the book on infectious diseases, and declare the war against pestilence won”? With thanks to @ULTweets. https://t.co/BGWweUtrb0

@rebecca_le_get Sorry for eavesdropping and coming in with an unsolicited recommendation, but given your work you might find this interesting, https://t.co/ou2gBANmVQ (I’m a co-author). In a way it complements Rekdal’s paper. : )

@MichelleFrancl Ooh, since you seem to enjoy "academic ULs," here are two short papers you might also find interesting: Rekdahl (2014) https://t.co/h1CQ6LHfLo and Spellberg & Taylor-Blake (2013) https://t.co/ou2gBANmVQ. (I'm the Taylor-Blake.)

@muhlen_m @FloreyInstitute @sheffielduni Except that he almost certainly didn't say it! https://t.co/dr9oQ4ku89

Debunking the end of infectious diseases: important to remember with the new #Cancer moonshot. #healthcare https://t.co/YpFauOMHfm

Via @FfitzP: Misquote of the century? http://t.co/DqZS3XjkTt Gr8t example of urban myth. Always check sources & correct misquotes @ source!

Misquote of the century? no record of US surgeon gen “closing book on ID’ http://t.co/cmk2Pra0HI #antibiotic #amr @UCDMedicine @gpbuddy

Misquote of the century? no record of US surgeon gen “closing book on ID’ http://t.co/cmk2Pra0HI #antibiotic #amr @UCDMedicine @gpbuddy

Misquote of the century? no record of US surgeon gen “closing book on ID’ http://t.co/cmk2Pra0HI #antibiotic #amr @hpscireland @RCPI_news

@QuoteResearch Just noticed that @btaylorblake co-authored the paper debunking the Stewart quote. http://t.co/9H36uk4HQA Nice work, Bonnie!

The US Surgeon General probably didn't say that the war on infectious diseases was over: http://t.co/G09Zox7akS and http://t.co/VIZx0lUbgZ

“It is time to close the book on infectious diseases" An urban legend. On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart. http://t.co/OBz3OJGS5q

“It is time to close the book on infectious diseases" An urban legend. On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart. http://t.co/OBz3OJGS5q

Did a US Surgeon General really once say "It is time to declare the war against infectious diseases won"? http://t.co/rDl6obzi7Q

Did a US Surgeon General really once say "It is time to declare the war against infectious diseases won"? http://t.co/rDl6obzi7Q

Exoneration of Dr William Stewart - Debunking Quote "Declare the war against pestilence won” http://t.co/opMTRSBIzP RT @UCLA

Peer-reviewed: On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart: debunking an urban legend - re common quote - #sciox http://t.co/NRRe1YDvI1

Brad Spellberg and I close the book on a medical misquotation and exonerate a former Surgeon General, http://t.co/ysWXo6cPaI

Exoneration of Dr William Stewart - Debunking Quote "Declare the war against pestilence won” http://t.co/8521oR8RGp RT @UCLA

Exoneration of Dr William Stewart - Debunking Quote "Declare the war against pestilence won” http://t.co/opMTRSBIzP RT @UCLA

On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart: debunking an urban legend. http://t.co/OpEZpjQywU

On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart: debunking an urban legend http://t.co/dA7UjbQ9EH #infectiousdiseasesofpoverty Great article!

On the exoneration of Dr. William H. Stewart: debunking an urban legend (on "closing book on IDs) http://t.co/iVoBcwEa9W