H. Merkel's The Real Story Behind Penicillin

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Penicillin is one of the greatest inventions in history. It created many opportunities for innovation and other inventions. Its purpose saved many lives and still used in modern-day. Before Penicillin, no true antibiotic existed. It was accidentally discovered by the Nobel Prize winner, Sir Alexander Fleming. When people are infected, no matter how small, had a high chance of mortality. The author of “The Real Story Behind Penicillin” by H. Merkel states that during a case study Albert Alexander, was the first to be administered with Penicillin. He was inflicted with a cut inside his mouth and developed severe infection throughout his face. The effect of Penicillin was shown to be significantly useful, however production was significantly …show more content…

Process of purification started and chemist like Norman Heatley and Edward Abraham, increased the production of Penicillin with varying techniques. Around 1940, scientist began experimenting with Penicillin, administering it on mice and for the first time, men. Unfortunately, the production of Penicillin was met with an obstacle, being the war. Resources were low, and Penicillin needed more backing as well. Ironically, the successful invention of the Penicillin would prove to save many lives including soldiers. At the time Penicillin’s early promises needed more clinical trials to back it up.
To help produce more Penicillin, Florey and the team turned to the United States. the help received from the United States proved to be a success. Scientist with plenty of knowledge on fermentation, different techniques were used to efficiently increase production of highly productive strains. One of which was moldy cantaloupes. Penicillin still met with some doubt, but many agree that Penicillin showed strong promise. When talking about production of Penicillin, the number of availability and yield was relatively low. Only as many as 100 were …show more content…

By the time World War II started countries sought after this drug. War, being the costly extravaganza that it is, had priority over Penicillin. Most Penicillin that were produced were given to soldiers. War was brutal and understandably unsanitary. It was easy for soldiers to be infect due to unsterilized equipment’s and the nasty conditions they must face. More often or not, surgeons had to work on multiple patients at one time, leading to a spread of infection. Like a conveyer belt of patients, rolling in and out of medical tents. On D-day, Penicillin significantly dropped mortality rate of Allied forces dying from infections. The drug combated gangrene and help minimize the spread of infection as well. The timing of Penicillin production was absolutely crucial, as it allowed Allied soldiers to survive and make quicker recovery than the opposing forces. Before Penicillin, sulfa drugs and iodine were used on wounds to treat infections. These did not compare to the prowess of Penicillin. Penicillin was not the key to winning the war however, it proved to improve life and medical advancement for years to

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