Treatment: Phase 5 Advances in Treating Disease 1920-1948

Question 1

Who was Gerhard Domagk?

Answer 1

He was a chemist who had been inspired by the achievement of Paul Ehrlich’s team

He and Josef Klarer were interested in using chemical dyes as antibiotics as dyes had to stick to this bacteria so it might as well kill it too.

Question 2

What year did he test Prontosil?

Answer 2

1932

Question 3

What were his experiments in using Prontosil?

Answer 3

He used a strain of streptococcus bacteria - the same bacteria responsible for scarlet fever, rheumatic fever, pneumonia and strep throat.

He exposed cultures of the bacteria grown in glass dishes to the dyes to determine whether any of the dyes could kill the bacteria outright. But after exposure to Prontosil the bacteria continued to thrive.

Question 4

What was the speed of the discovery thanks to?

Answer 4

New powerful Electron Microscopes

Question 5

Explain his experiments of Prontosil in mice

Answer 5

He infected a group of mice with a lethal dose of streptococcus.

He gave some of the mice Prontosil but not all.

The mice that did not receive Prontosil died and the ones that were given Prontosil didn’t get sick.

Question 6

Explain Domagk’s tests of Prontosil on humans

Answer 6

He had been testing it on humans as he was partnered with a nearby hospital.

He tested it on his own daughter and she was cured of the streptococcus bacteria within two days.

Question 7

When did Domagk publish his report on Prontosil?

Answer 7

1935

Question 8

How was Domagk’s report viewed?

Answer 8

With great skepticism. At the time a lot of doctors didn’t even think it was possible to fight diseases with chemical cures

Question 9

What did British hospitals manage to do with Prontosil?

Answer 9

They recreated the results of the clinical trials using it to cure puerperal fever.

Question 10

Which president’s son used Prontosil?

Answer 10

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son. To cure a severe strep throat infection

Question 11

What other advancements were made with Prontosil?

Answer 11

• It was developed by French scientists who found the drug could be used to cure tonsillitis, puerperal fever and scarlet fever
• May and Baker, British scientists found a version of the drug could be used against pneumonia

Question 12

What were the disadvantages to Prontosil and other sulphonamide drugs?

Answer 12

They could damage the kidney and liver

They were ineffective against highly virulent (severe) microbes

Question 13

What is penicillin?

Answer 13

An antibiotic. It kills life that is harmful to living creatures e.g. bacteria.

Question 14

Who had look into penicillin before Fleming?

Answer 14

19th Century - John Sanderson discovered a mould called penicillium

1880s Joseph Lister noted it should be used to treat infected wounds. Tried this with a nurse but left no notes on it.

Question 15

Who was Alexander Fleming?

Answer 15

A scientist at St Mary’s Hospital in London

Working on staphylococci. Germs that make wounds go septic.

Question 16

What were his interest in antibiotics?

Answer 16

He became interested in the natural bacterial action of the blood and in antiseptics. He was able to continue his studies throughout his military career.

Question 17

Explain the steps of the discovery of penicillin

Answer 17

In 1928, he observed that a mould had accidentally developed on a staphylococcus culture and it had created a bacteria free circle.

He found that a mould culture prevented the growth of staphylococci, even when diluted 800 times. He called it penicillin.

He grew more of it and experimented against anthrax and diphtheria

It was the first example of a naturally occurring antibiotic.

He treated a friend who had meningitis with it

He wrote a paper in 1929 about it

Question 18

What were the problems with Fleming and penicillin?

Answer 18

He did little with his discovery

Question 19

How did Florey and Chain investigate penicillin? (Investigation up til animal trials)

Answer 19

In 1939 they assembled a team of pathologists to study penicillin.

After the outbreak of war they asked the British government to fund the team’s research

They used milk bottles, milk churns, a dog bath and a hand pump to make a few grams of pure penicillin

They tested it on 8 mice who were injected with steptococci. Four mice were given penicillin - they lived.

Question 20

What was the first human trial of penicillin?

Answer 20

In 1941

Albert Alexander was near death as a result of a bacterial infection.

His doctor, Fletcher used penicillin on him.

They did not have enough and he died but it showed that penicillin could be used on humans.

Question 21

How did the USA joining the war impact the use of penicillin?

Answer 21

1942 - The US government gives $80 million to 4 drug companies to find a way to mass produce penicillin

1943 - Mass production began. First used by the British army in North Africa

1944 - Enough penicillin available to treat all casualties of D-Day

1945 - US army uses 2 million doses of penicillin a month.

Question 22

What was the impact of penicillin?

Answer 22

Became widely available after the USA’s entry into the war

It is estimated that 12-15% more Allied soldiers would have died without penicillin. It also halved the average amount of time an Allied soldier spent in hospital.

Question 23

What factors were there that influenced changes and developments of the search for cures to infectious diseases

Answer 23

Technology - the Industrial Revolution provided scientists with new types of microscopes, dyes, labs and technical equipment.

Good luck - some of the discoveries were down to chance e.g. Fleming wasn’t searching for penicillin when he came across it

Competition - scientists were constantly in competition. Koch and Pasteur are an example

Government - The British government-funded research into penicillin in 1939 and the US government offered money for mass production

War - medical advancements are often accelerated through war as governments want to reduce death.