Ida Ørskov
Ida Ørskov (née Oppenheuser, 8 January 1922 – 10
April 2007) was a Danish physician and bacteriologist Ida Ørskov
whose dissertation Om Klebsiella (About Klebsiella)
was the first scientific study pointing to the risk of
bacterial cross-infection in hospitals.[1][2]
Biography
Born in Copenhagen, Ørskov was the daughter of Frits Ørskov (left) with Ida Ørskov (right)
Johannes Georg Oppenheuser, an engraver, and Helga c. 1958
Christensen. After matriculating from N. Zahle's Born Ida Oppenheuser
School in 1941, she began to study medicine the 8 January 1922
encouragement of her chemistry teacher. Her Copenhagen, Denmark
friendship and later marriage (1948) with her fellow
Died 10 April 2007 (aged 85)
student Frits Ørskov, the son of the director of the
Danish Serum Institute (Statens Serum Institut), raised Spouse Frits Ørskov
(m. 1948)
her interest in bacteriology and led to close
collaboration with her husband after he became head Children 2
of the institute's coli department. After graduating from Awards Paul Ehrlich Prize
the University of Copenhagen in 1948, she became an Tagea Brandt Rejselegat
assistant at the institute's International Salmonella
Academic background
Centre.[1]
Thesis 'Om Klebsiella'
Her thesis Om Klebsiella (1956) was one of the first Academic work
scientific papers addressing the presence of bacterial
Main interests Bacteriologist
cross-infection. Together with her husband, she
investigated the virulence factors and related properties
of coliforms. The work led to the establishment of a coli department which became the World Health
Organization's International Escherichia Centre, leading to a national Salmonella Centre and an
international Klebsiella Centre. In 1968, she was appointed overlæge (head of department).[3] This
resulted in close contacts with the American National Institutes of Health in the late 1970s and early
1980s, including a year with her husband as visiting scientists at the NIH.[1]
Ida Ørskov died on 10 April 2007 and is buried in Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård Cemetery.[2] Her
husband, Frits Ørskov, died on 29 July 2015.[4]
Awards
1965: Paul Ehrlich Prize
1978: Tagea Brandt Travel Scholarship
Selected publications
Ida Ørskov contributed to some 200 publications, most in collaboration with her husband and other
scientists. Works include:
Ørskov, Ida (1956). Om Klebsiella: en oversigt (https://books.google.com/books?id=7M6BnA
EACAAJ) (in Danish). Busck.
Ørskov, Frits; Ørskov, Ida (September 1975). "Escherichia Coli O:H Serotypes Isolated From
Human Blood". Acta Pathologica et Microbiologica Scandinavica. 83B (6): 595.
References
1. Frederiksen, Wilhelm. "Ida Ørskov (1922 - 2007)" (http://www.kvinfo.dk/side/597/bio/1663/ori
gin/170/) (in Danish). Kvinfo. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
2. "Ida Ørskov" (http://www.gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=idaoerskov) (in Danish).
Gravested.dk. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
3. "Jeppe Ørskov" (http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Dansk_Biografisk_Leksikon/Sundhed/L%C
3%A6ge/Jeppe_%C3%98rskov) (in Danish). Dansk Biographisk Leksikon. Retrieved
5 November 2015.
4. "Kendt mediciner er død" (http://globalnyt.dk/content/kendt-mediciner-er-doed) (in Danish).
Globalnyt. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
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