Penicillin

What is Penicillin?

Penicillin

• Penicillin was discovered by Dr. Alexander Fleming in September 1928
• It was accidentally discovered, but changed the course of medical history
• Penicillin gave doctors a tool, to cure the most deadly of diseases 
• These diseases included Gonorrhea, Typhoid, Yaws etc. 
• These diseases were once feared, but not anymore due to  Penicillin

Dr.  Fleming and The Discovery of Penicillin

• Fleming discovered Penicillin after returning from a vacation
• In a contiminated petri dish, he found a mold called Penicillium
• Dr.Fleming was amazed to see the mold prevent the growth of Staphylocci
• He learned that something in the mold prevented the growth of bacteria
• He concluded, saying that this might be used to combat infectious diseases

The Discovery of Penicillin continued

Dr.Fleming realized that he didn't have the resources or knowledge to find the germ that was effective against diseases. This job fell to Dr.Howard Florey. In 1940 Florey and his colleagues performed an experiment on 50 mice. The mice had deadly Streptococcus. The mice who were given the vaccine survived, the others didn't. In 1941, Florey and his colleagues flew to Peoria, Illinois to mass produce the drug.

Penicillin had a massive effect right from the beginning. In World War I there was a 18% death rate due to bacterial Pneumonia. But in World War II, that rate dropped to 1%, due to the Penicillin vaccine. By the end of the war pharmaceutical companies were producing 650 billion vaccines per/month because of the success..

The Types of Penicl