Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, rests at home after undergoing surgery Thursday to remove a polyp from his vocal cord, according to several media reports.
A prominent member of the White House Coronavirus Working Group, Fauci’s hoarse voice has become temporarily familiar to most Americans who attended daily briefings of the working group at the beginning of the pandemic. Polyps cause the type of hoarseness Fauci is known for.
Fauci told the Washington Economic Club this spring that his throat was irritated after an episode of winter flu that never had to be cured.
“I probably have a polyp there,” he said at the time, adding that “the only way to do that is to keep your mouth shut. But it’s not in the cards right now.”
Fauci has been the government’s top expert on infectious diseases since 1984, but was an unknown figure to most Americans before the pandemic began. Since then, it has had one of the most reliable data resources for the virus for the maximum number of Americans, according to the surveys, and has a celebrity whose resemblance is provided in everything from T-shirts to bobbleheads.
Contribute: The Associated Press