20th Century Health

Question 1

When and by who had penicillin been discovered?

Answer 1

19th century

Lister

Question 2

What had Lister used penicillin for?

Answer 2

To treat a wound but had never published his notes

Question 3

Where was Alexander Fleming sent to study the treatment of wounded soldiers?

Answer 3

St Mary’s Hospital, London

Question 4

What did Alexander Fleming observe at St Mary’s Hospital? What did he decide to do?

Answer 4

Antiseptics were unable to prevent infection

To look for something which would kill the microbes which caused infection

Question 5

What was one very dangerous germ? What did it cause?

Answer 5

Staphylococci

Septicaemia

Question 6

What did Fleming notice when he returned from holiday in 1928?

Answer 6

A mould on one of his Petri dishes

Question 7

What did the mould tell Fleming?

Answer 7

It was penicillin

The staphylococci germ had been killed by the mould

Question 8

What did Fleming conclude from the Petri dish?

Answer 8

It was a natural antiseptic

Today we call it an antibiotic

Question 9

When did Fleming publish his results?

Answer 9

1929

Question 10

Why didn’t Fleming develop the drug?

Answer 10

He didn’t have the funds

Question 11

What test was missing from Fleming’s work?

Answer 11

Injecting penicillin into the blood

Question 12

What would injecting penicillin into the blood have shown?

Answer 12

It was a medicine

Would’ve sparked further interest

Question 13

Who began to research penicillin after reading an article by Fleming?

Answer 13

Howard Florey and Ernst Chain

Question 14

When did Howard Florey and Ernst Chain begin to research penicillin?

Answer 14

1937

Question 15

What did Howard Florey and Ernst Chain have? What did this allow them to do?

Answer 15

Funds

Begin to experiment on mice

Question 16

When did Howard Florey and Ernst Chain begin to experiment on humans?

Answer 16

1941

Question 17

What did Howard Florey and Ernst Chain do to their laboratory?

Answer 17

Turned it into a penicillin producing factory

Question 18

What was Howard Florey and Ernst Chain’s first trial with the penicillin?

Answer 18

On a policeman with an infection from a scratch

Question 19

Why did the policeman die 5 days after the trial started?

Answer 19

They ran out of the drug

They had seen success

Question 20

What sped up the production of penicillin?

Answer 20

World War Two

Question 21

Why did World War Two speed up penicillin production?

Answer 21

US government paid drug companies to make it in large quantities

Question 22

When was penicillin first used in World War Two? Who was it used on?

Answer 22

1943

Troops in North Africa

Question 23

What two counties produced huge quantities of penicillin?

Answer 23

USA

Great Britain

Question 24

Between what years did penicillin help save thousands of lives?

Answer 24

1944

1945

Question 25

How much penicillin was there to treat soldiers in 1943? By 1945 how many soldiers were helped?

Answer 25

In 1943 there was enough to treat 1000 soldiers | By 1945, 250,000 soldiers were helped

Question 26

% of soldiers in World War Two who would’ve died without the penicillin

Answer 26

15%

Question 27

After the war, what was introduced to research and develop the “wonder drug” penicillin?

Answer 27

A huge government sponsored programme

Question 28

What diseases was penicillin used to widely treat after World War Two?

Answer 28

``` Bronchitis Impetigo Pneumonia Tonsillitis Syphilis Meningitis Boils Abscesses wounds ```

Question 29

When did Fleming, Chain and Florey revive the Nobel Prize for Medicine?

Answer 29

1945

Question 30

An example of another antibiotic which followed penicillin

Answer 30

Streptomycin in 1944 Tetracycline in 1953 Mitomycin in 1956 Cortisone in 1950

Question 31

What was streptomycin used to treat?

Answer 31

Tuberculosis

Question 32

What is tetracycline good for?

Answer 32

Skin infections

Question 33

What has mitomycin been used for?

Answer 33

Fighting cancer

Question 34

What was cortisone used to treat?

Answer 34

Arthritis

Question 35

New vaccines emerged after WW2 to treat what diseases?

Answer 35

Polio | Measles

Question 36

What came on the market after WW2?

Answer 36

Tranquiliser | Birth control pill

Question 37

What were there new pills for after WW2?

Answer 37

Depression Psychosis Hypertension

Question 38

What did it seem that medical and scientific medicine could solve after WW2?

Answer 38

All medical issues

Question 39

What became a big business after WW2? What did this mean?

Answer 39

Medicine | Fortunes could be made so testing could be rushed

Question 40

What led to much tougher testing and approval processes for new drugs?

Answer 40

A drug called thalidomide, for sleeping, resulted in the birth of babies with poorly formed limbs

Question 41

What did the GP become central to?

Answer 41

The delivery of medical services