title: Sherlock Holmes and tropical medicine: a centennial appraisal.
abstract: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle incorporated an unidentified tropical disease as a murder weapon in the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Dying Detective," written in 1913. Documentary and circumstantial evidence suggests that the disease mentioned was melioidosis. The description of the newly identified disease occurred shortly before Doyle's death. Doyle's other works at the time reflect a consistent interest in tropical disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Sodeman
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000266:history*; D014330:Tropical Medicine / Q000266:history