The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Bretonneau, Pierre
(pyr brtôn´) (KEY) , 17781862, French physician. He performed (1825) the first successful tracheotomy for laryngeal diphtheria, wrote a treatise (1826) distinguishing between scarlet fever and diphtheria (which he named), described typhoid fever, and stated (1855) the germ theory of disease (which later became established largely through Pasteurs work).