BIO 212
Dr. Boles
Excelsior College
Penicillin and its Impact on Microbiology
Penicillin has saved many lives past and current. “Before the discovery and use of penicillin, infectious diseases had been the leading cause of death throughout history. Furthermore, the therapeutic tools available for treating infections were few and of limited use.”(Kardos 2011) Penicillin has been the drug of choice when treating many diseases.
Even though there are people allergic to penicillin, and bacterias that have formed resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics, penicillin will always be relevant to the studies of Microbiology. From its accidental inception penicillin has made an impact on science, because Alexander Fleming …show more content…
Severe past reaction, such as anaphylaxis, and anaphylaxis allergy is critical, and re-exposure will warrant adverse and possibly mortality. However, for patients with a secondary or uncertain reaction, not rendering penicillin may perhaps be withholding the first result of effective treatment.(“Penicillin Allergies.”) Penicillin is the treatment for Gonorrhea, Syphilis, and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. (“Penicillin Allergies.”)
The treatment of penicillin is a first line defense encountering some infectious agent that can lead to peril in one 's life. The first line defense is nothing else will do at the time but penicillin. Many physicians perform assessments to check the level of allergy by continuously monitoring the patient after the initial dose(“Penicillin Allergies.”).
Another example that shows that there are people allergic to penicillin and that bacteria have formed resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics, penicillin will always be relevant to the studies of Microbiology …show more content…
However, in the late 1930s, when Chain and Florey began to test antibacterial substances, they used a culture of Fleming’s mold that had been maintained at Oxford. Chain found it was an enzyme which attacks a specific bacterial structure. While reviewing the literature on lysozyme, Chain came across the paper by Fleming, published in 1929, describing the chance discovery of a Penicillium mold that apparently dissolved pathogenic bacteria in its vicinity. Chain also found a culture of Fleming’s mold in the School of Pathology. In 1941 it was considered that there was enough penicillin for a limited trial in patients at the Radcliffe Infirmary under the direction of Charles Fletcher. The first case treated, on 12 February 1941, was Albert Alexander, a 43-year-old policeman, who was moribund with overwhelming staphylococcal and streptococcal