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Writer's pictureAbbey Tan

What to Know About Penicillins

Updated: Jan 14, 2022

Medicines invented in 1920s



History of Penicillins

Ernest Duchesne - 1896

The Penicillium chrysogenum mold was renamed penicillin. In 1896, a young French medical student named Ernest Duchesne discovered the antibiotic action while investigating Penicillium glaucum, but his finding was dismissed by the Institut Pasteur.


Alexander Fleming - 1928

Until the year 1928, a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming observed a halo of bacterial growth inhibition around a contaminant blue-green mold on Staphylococcus. Fleming then concluded that the mold was emitting a chemical that stopped germs from growing.


Conclusion - 1931

Fleming identified the fungus that he found as Penicillium notatum. After numerous studies, Fleming came out with the conclusion that penicillin could not survive in the human body for long period to kill harmful germs, and stoped his research on penicillin in 1931. This was one of the breakthroughs that revolutionized modern medicine.


Howard Florey & Ernst Chain - 1938

Then, in 1938, while investigating antibiotic chemicals with pathologist Howard Florey at Oxford University, Ernst Chain, a biochemist, came upon Fleming's manuscript. Florey's group began research with penicillin, which they finally administered to mice to see if it could treat bacterial infections. Their experiments were successful, so they decided to put it to the test on humans, and the findings were likewise positive.


Uses

Penicillin is used to treat certain bacterial infections.

Administration

Penicillin G - Intravenous or intramuscular injection

Penicillin V - By mouth

  • Pneumonia

  • Respiratory tract infections

  • Scarlet fever

  • Ear, skin, gum, mouth, and throat infections

Side effects
  • Nausea

  • Vomiting

  • Stomach pain

  • Headache

  • Swollen

  • Thrush

"Penicillin are the first antibiotic that are used by doctors"
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