Discover the fascinating story of penicillin, the accidental antibiotic that revolutionized medicine. Learn about its discovery, early trials, and the challenges faced in mass production.
Medical Trivia
The accidental discovery of penicillin was an event that changed the world, as infections that could not be treated previously were then curable. Even today, almost 100 years after its discovery, penicillin is still a first line drug for some infections such as strep throat and syphilis.
On September 3, 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Professor of Bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in London, returned from vacation and noticed something odd in one of his petri dishes. There was some mold growing in a culture of Staphylococcus aureus that had a clear zone around it signifying that this accidental mold had inhibited the growth of the Staph bacteria. The mold was identified as a rare strain of Penicillium notatum. He later discovered that his ”mold juice” could kill a wide range of harmful bacteria. However, he was unable to isolate pure penicillin from the mold.
In 1939, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and their colleagues at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford University started work on the purification of penicillin and were successful. In 1940, Florey demonstrated that penicillin could protect mice against infection from Streptococcal infections.
In February 1941, an Oxford England policeman named Albert Alexander was the first person in the world to be treated with penicillin. As the story goes, he had scratched his mouth pruning roses* and developed abscesses and a life-threatening infection. He was started on intravenous penicillin and made a remarkable recovery. His monumental recovery did not last. His physicians ran out of penicillin, even after recycling the drug from his urine. He was unable to complete his course of treatment and succumbed to infection.
It was not uncommon when penicillin first started being used to recover excreted penicillin from the patient’s urine and then reinfuse it, as the drug was so scarce and up to 70% of administered penicillin could be recovered. In March of 1942, Anne Miller, a woman with streptococcal sepsis after a miscarriage, became the first person to be cured by penicillin. She was severely ill in a Connecticut hospital and her doctor managed to obtain a tablespoon of penicillin, reportedly half of the entire store of penicillin in the U.S. at that time. After she recovered, her urine was sent back to Merck & Company pharmaceuticals for reconstitution and reuse of the penicillin for another patient. By 1943 there was enough penicillin made to treat thirty people in the U.S. By mid-1944 chemists and drug companies, with the support of the U.S. War Production Board, had discovered more effective ways to produce penicillin so even after supplying the military, they were able to start allowing civilian access to the drug.
(* The classical history is that Alexander injured himself pruning roses. However, 70 years later it was discovered and confirmed by family that the injury had been from shrapnel during a German bombing raid.)
References:
Sullivan B. Guns, not roses – here is the true story of penicillin’s first patient. The Conversation. March 11, 2022. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/guns-not-roses-heres-the-true-story-of-penicillins-first-patient-178463
Discovery and Development of Penicillin. American Chemical Society. 1999. Retrieved from: https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html
Rothman L. This Is What Happened to the First American Treated with Penicillin. Time. March 14, 2016. Retrieved from: https://time.com/4250235/penicillin-1942-history/
Czepiel KL. Daily Nutmeg, New Haven. March 16, 2022. Retrieved from: https://dailynutmeg.com/blogs/blog/penicillin-new-haven-medical-history-redux
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