Medical Dictionary

Morax-Axenfeld bacillus

noun Mor·ax-Ax·en·feld bacillus \ ˈmȯr-äks-ˈäk-sən-ˌfeld- \

medical Definition of Morax-Axenfeld bacillus

: a rod-shaped bacterium of the genus Moraxella (M. lacunata) that causes Morax-Axenfeld conjunctivitis

Biographical Note for morax-axenfeld bacillus

Morax \mȯ-rȧks\, Victor (1866–1935), French ophthalmologist. Morax published a general summary of ophthalmology and several papers dealing specifically with the conjunctiva and the cornea. In 1896 he isolated a bacterium of the genus Moraxella which causes a chronic conjunctivitis.

Axenfeld \ˈäk-sən-ˌfelt\, Karl Theodor Paul Polykarpos (1867–1930), German ophthalmologist. Axenfeld presented a classic account of a form of choroiditis due especially to metastasis in 1894. In 1896, independently of Morax, he isolated the bacterium of the genus Moraxella and described the chronic conjunctivitis that it causes. This conjunctivitis is now known as the Morax-Axenfeld conjunctivitis.