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 passed before penicillin

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