⏰ when
When Was the First Antibiotic Used on a Patient?
medicinehistory
Quick Answer
Penicillin was first used to treat a human patient in February 1941.
The Full Story
Although Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin's antibacterial properties in 1928, it was not used on a patient until 12 February 1941, when Oxford researchers Howard Florey and Ernst Chain treated a policeman named Albert Alexander. The patient initially improved but died when supplies ran out. Mass production began during World War II, and by D-Day in 1944 enough penicillin existed to treat Allied wounded. Fleming, Florey, and Chain shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Key Facts
1.Fleming noticed mould killing bacteria on a petri dish he had left uncovered in 1928.
2.By 1944 the US was producing 2.3 million doses of penicillin per month.
3.Antibiotic resistance was already warned about by Fleming in his 1945 Nobel lecture.
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"From Mouldy Petri Dish to Miracle Drug — The Penicillin Story"