Antibiotics And Penicillin Essay, Research Paper
Antibiotics and Penicillin
Antibiotics was created to kill the growth of infectious
organisms, produced by bacteria or molds that are toxic to other micro-
organisms .Antibiotic refers to antibacterials all antibiotics are more toxic
to an organism than they are to an animal or human. How they made
antibiotics was not understood until the late 20th century. the principle
of using organic compounds to fight infection has been known since ancient
times. Plant extracts were used for medicine for centuries and still used
today as home remedies. They also used cheese molds for the treatment of
infection. The first observation of what would now be called an antibiotic
effect was made in the 19th century by a French chemist Louis Pasteur who
discovered that certain bacteria could kill anthrax bacilli the first antibiotic
to be used successfully in the treatment of human disease was
TYROTHRICIN the medicine was too toxic for general use but was used for
external treatment for infections. Another antibiotic called Antinomycetes
have been more successful. This was discovered in 1944 by biologist Selman
waksman which at the time was the biggest treatment for tuberculosis.
Since antibiotics came into general use in the 1950?s they have
changed dramatically the difference between disease and death. Many
diseases in which had people dying were improved dramatically and some
of these diseases are tuberculosis, pneumonia, septicemia. Surgical
procedures have also been improved. The most well known antibiotic is
Penicillin and it has been used to fight many infectious diseases such as
syphilis, gonorrhea, tetanus and scarlet fever.
The action of penicillin was first observed in 1928 by a British
bacteriologist Sir Alexander Flemming but 10 years p
was studied by a British biochemist called Ernst chain and a British
pathologist called Sir Howard Florey they prepared penicillin isolated from
fungus for testing against all kind of bacteria and after allot of work
they tested on a mice and they all survived. then in 1940 the results were
published and the first human clinical to test penicillin was done. Penicillin
acts both by killing bacteria and by inhibiting their growth. It only kills the
organisms that are growing and reproducing. Big containers filled with
liquid and nutrients necessary for molds to grow are used to grow large
amounts of penicillin. penicillin was originally produced by growing
penicillium notatum mold in small containers. There are four types of
penicillin. These are penicillin G types, ampicillin, penicillinase and the
extended penicilling. Penicillin g types are effective against steptoccocci and
some negative bacteria. Penicillin G is used to treat syphillis, Gonorrhea,
Meningitis, Anthrax and yaws. The other penicillins have a similar range but
are less effective.
Penicillin are given for throat infections , pneumonia, spinal
meningitis, gas gangrene, diphtheria, syphilis and gonorrhea. Side effects
are minor but could include Skin Rashes, swelling , shock , anemia,
nephritis. penicillin can be obtained at hospitals as well as pharmacies.
The dosage of penicillin are measure in terms of international units.
Each of these units is equal to 0.0006 g of the crystalline fraction of
penicillin. In the early days of penicillin the drug was given in small doses
every three hours now just with one injection it can last four weeks.
Depending on the kind of penicillin it could vary in price but they are very
cheap. a pack of 24 tablets can only cost eight dollars.
In my opinion I th