Bacterial diseases, like staphylococcal, hemolytic streptococcus, gonorrhea,
syphilis, gangrene, and bacterial endocarditis, can have horrible horrible effects on the
people they infect, from painful headache and fever, to paralysis and degeneration of
internal organs, to agonizing death. Until the discovery and use of antibiotics,
doctors had no decisive tool in the battle against these terribly devastating bacterial
diseases. The most widely used antibiotic of all is penicillin,
which has easily saved many lives since it entered wide use during World
War II. Penicillin is derived from the fungus Penicillium and
inhibits bacterial growth and kills bacteria. It is incredibly effective and can
destroy a wide range of bacteria, including pneumococci, streptococci, gonococci,
meningococci, the clostridium that causes tetanus, and the syphilis spirochete.
Interestingly, although penicillin was discovered in England in 1929 by Dr. Alexander Fleming (shown in
the photo) and was believed at that time by scientists to have some potential use against
such horrible diseases, no significant effort succeeded in bringing it to wide-spread
medical use for twelve years! This was because Dr. Fleming’s method for making the
miracle drug synthesized only enough for laboratory testing, not even an adequate amount
to treat one patient. Although there had been some attempts during that twelve-year
period to increase the production of penicillin, it wasn’t until World War II that
penicillin became the wonderful and useful entity it is now. World War II brought
many soldiers into close contact in questionable sanitary conditions, and the loss of life
because of disease was as big a concern as was loss of life because of bullets and
bombs. World War II was the biggest and, in terms of lives lost and material
destruction, the most devastating war in history. It began in 1939 as a European
conflict between Germany and an Anglo-French coalition but eventually widened to include
most of the nations of the world. When it ended in 1945, the political structure of
the entire globe was greatly changed, leaving a new world order dominated by the United
States and the USSR. During the war, the motivation was high, from the individual
level to that of entire governments, to make whatever contribution could be made to the
war effort especially where the health of the soldiers was concerned.
In 1940, Dr. Howard Florey (in the
photo), a colleague of Dr. Fleming, recognized the extreme importance of being able to
mass-produce an effective penicillin. Florey sought out the help of Dr. Newton
Richards, Chairman of the U.S. Military Committee on Medical Research, who recognized the
great advantage penicillin would give the armed forces and who was incredibly motivated
and eager to help Florey. Dr. Robert Coghill,
a government researcher in a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture laboratory, was put in charge of
the project. With the full force and support of the American government,
Coghill’s team was able to increase the resources needed to improve the penicillin
production rate by one hundred fold. By June, 1942, enough penicillin had been
produced to treat ten men, and trials were extraordinarily successful. The Committee
on Military Research recruited several commercial companies to augment Coghill’s
efforts. By February, 1943, there was enough penicillin to test on a hospitalful of
one hundred war-wounded soldiers, tests that also went extremely well. The results
of these studies were so striking that they could not fail to convince the medical corps
of the armed forces, and everyone else, that the drug possessed importance of the highest
order. By April, 1945, with the help of war-motivated industries, production
increased another 2500-fold! At this point, the drug was made available broadly,
beyond the military, to the general public. Without a war at hand, this would not
have happened anywhere nearly as fast.
Click on the picture to see an enlarged version of this poster used
during World War II as an advertisement of how wonderful penicillin is!
For twelve years after its discovery, not enough penicillin
existed to save even one person, yet over twelve billion units of penicillin can be made
each year now, and at a cost of only 3% of what it had cost during the war.
Penicillin does so much for the world. It has lowered the death rate of
staphylococcal infections by 86%, is the most effective drug for the treatment of
hemolytic streptococcus, is the most powerful therapeutic agent against gonorrhea and
syphilis, is a very affective antibiotic for wounds and burns, is helpful in the treatment
of gangrene, and is the best treatment existing for bacterial endocarditis, empyema, lung
abscess, brochietasis, acute osteomyelitis, chronic osteomyelitis, and anthrax; and yet,
penicillin is nontoxic. One wonders if it might still be sitting in a laboratory
somewhere if not for the extreme pressure brought to bear by World War II to make it
useful and widely available.
in
the photo) and was believed at that time by scientists to have some potential use against
such horrible diseases, no significant effort succeeded in bringing it to wide-spread
medical use for twelve years! This was because Dr. Fleming’s method for making the
miracle drug synthesized only enough for laboratory testing, not even an adequate amount
to treat one patient. Although there had been some attempts during that twelve-year
period to increase the production of penicillin, it wasn’t until World War II that
penicillin became the wonderful and useful entity it is now. World War II brought
many soldiers into close contact in questionable sanitary conditions, and the loss of life
because of disease was as big a concern as was loss of life because of bullets and
bombs. World War II was the biggest and, in terms of lives lost and material
destruction, the most devastating war in history. It began in 1939 as a European
conflict between Germany and an Anglo-French coalition but eventually widened to include
most of the nations of the world. When it ended in 1945, the political structure of
the entire globe was greatly changed, leaving a new world order dominated by the United
States and the USSR. During the war, the motivation was high, from the individual
level to that of entire governments, to make whatever contribution could be made to the
war effort especially where the health of the soldiers was concerned.
the extreme importance of being able to
mass-produce an effective penicillin. Florey sought out the help of Dr. Newton
Richards, Chairman of the U.S. Military Committee on Medical Research, who recognized the
great advantage penicillin would give the armed forces and who was incredibly motivated
and eager to help Florey. Dr. Robert Coghill,
a government researcher in a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture laboratory, was put in charge of
the project. With the full force and support of the American government,
Coghill’s team was able to increase the resources needed to improve the penicillin
production rate by one hundred fold. By June, 1942, enough penicillin had been
produced to treat ten men, and trials were extraordinarily successful. The Committee
on Military Research recruited several commercial companies to augment Coghill’s
efforts. By February, 1943, there was enough penicillin to test on a hospitalful of
one hundred war-wounded soldiers, tests that also went extremely well. The results
of these studies were so striking that they could not fail to convince the medical corps
of the armed forces, and everyone else, that the drug possessed importance of the highest
order. By April, 1945, with the help of war-motivated industries, production
increased another 2500-fold! At this point, the drug was made available broadly,
beyond the military, to the general public. Without a war at hand, this would not
have happened anywhere nearly as fast.
