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The history of penicillin follows observations and discoveries of evidence of antibiotic activity of the mould Penicillium that led to the development of penicillins that became the first widely used antibiotics. Following the production of a relatively pure compound in 1942, penicillin was the first naturally-derived antibiotic.
Penicillin is actively excreted, and about 80% of a penicillin dose is cleared from the body within three to four hours of administration. Indeed, during the early penicillin era, the drug was so scarce and so highly valued that it became common to collect the urine from patients being treated, so that the penicillin in the urine could be ...
β-Lactam antibiotics are indicated for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible organisms. At first, β-lactam antibiotics were mainly active only against gram-positive bacteria, yet the recent development of broad-spectrum β-lactam antibiotics active against various gram-negative organisms has increased their usefulness.
Sample of penicillin mould presented by Alexander Fleming to Douglas Macleod in 1935. The discovery of penicillin was one of the most important scientific discoveries in the history of medicine. Ancient societies used moulds to treat infections and in the following centuries many people observed the inhibition of bacterial growth by moulds.
Penicillium rubens is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium and was the first species known to produce the antibiotic penicillin. It was first described by Philibert Melchior Joseph Ehi Biourge in 1923. For the discovery of penicillin from this species Alexander Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945. [1]
Penicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus [3] appeared very soon after penicillin entered general clinical use in 1943, and the mechanism of resistance was the production of β-lactamase. Modification of the penicillin molecule so that it was resistant to being broken down by β-lactamase was able to temporarily overcome this problem.
Dr. Alvin John Ingram (March 31, 1914 – June 1, 1999) was a leader in orthopaedic surgery, pioneer in combatting polio, and one of the first doctors in history to administer penicillin. Ingram also was selected as the only orthopaedist in a group of physicians to tour military field hospitals in Vietnam at the request of Lyndon B. Johnson.
Jasper Herbert Kane (July 15, 1903 – November 23, 2004) was an American biochemist who had a central role in moving antibiotics such as penicillin from the laboratory table into industrial production in World War II. He was an alumnus of what is now called the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. He died in Florida in 2004, age 101.