Background
Joseph Edward Debono was born on 1 May 1903 in Valletta.
professor consultant physician
Joseph Edward Debono was born on 1 May 1903 in Valletta.
He was educated at the Royal University of Malta, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1921 and a Medical Doctorate in 1925.
Debono was a Professor of Medicine at the University of Malta from 1946 to 1963. Professor Debono carried out original work on vaccination of goats, together with Sir Temistocles (Temi) Zammit, wrote many papers on Undulant Fever (also known as the Malta Fever) and introduced Aureomycin, which was followed by other antibiotics, in 1949. He was the first to popularize the concept of dehydration in Infantile Diarrhorea and introduced the simple but efficient treatment which greatly reduced mortality.
Professor Debono was appointed consultant physician to the Lazaretto Isolation Hospital in 1942 (during the worst part of the Second World War), and was in charge of the polio patients until the post war epidemic was over.
In 1963 he started an independent diabetic clinic and had continued for many years to serve as its director In his article, What every diabetic should know, Debono described a maintenance diet for diabetics that consisted of a low-calorie menu that would, if necessary, be supplemented through insulin injections.
Professor Debono spent much time studying the brucella melitensis strain of brucellosis. In 1939 Debono assisted with the publication of a book on the subject, Brucellosis in man and animals.