penicillin was first used on a large scale basis in 1942.
when was penicillin first used on a large scale basis?
1942
the challenge of mass-producing this drug was daunting. on march 14, 1942, the first patient was treated for streptococcal sepsis with us-made penicillin produced by merck & co. half of the total supply produced at the time was used on that one patient, anne miller. by june 1942, just enough us penicillin was available to treat ten patients. in july 1943, the war production board drew up a plan for the mass distribution of penicillin stocks to allied troops fighting in europe. the results of fermentation research on corn steep liquor at the northern regional research laboratory at peoria, illinois, allowed the united states to produce 2.3 million doses in time for the invasion of normandy in the spring of 1944. after a worldwide search in 1943, a mouldy cantaloupe in a peoria, illinois market was found to contain the best strain of mould for production using the corn steep liquor process. pfizer scientist jasper h. kane suggested using a deep-tank fermentation method for producing large quantities of pharmaceutical-grade penicillin. large-scale production resulted from the development of a deep-tank fermentation plant by chemical engineer margaret hutchinson rousseau. as a direct result of the war and the war production board, by june 1945, over 646 billion units per year were being produced.
penicillin
the side effects of penicillin are bodily responses to penicillin and closely related antibiotics that do not relate directly to its effect on bacteria. a side effect is an effect that is not intended with normal dosaging. some of these reactions are visible and some occur in the body's organs or blood. penicillins are a widely used group of medications that are effective for the treatment of a wide variety of bacterial infections in human adults and children as well as other species. some side effects are predictable, of which some are common but not serious, some are uncommon and serious and others are rare. the route of administration of penicillin can have an effect on the development of side effects. an example of this is irritation and inflammation that develops at a peripheral infusion site when penicillin is administered intravenously. in addition, penicillin is available in different forms. there are different penicillin medications (penicillin g benzathine, penicillin g potassium, penicillin g sodium, penicillin g procaine, and penicillin v) as well as a number of β-lactam antibiotics derived from penicillin (e.g. amoxicillin) generally also referred to as "penicillin".
side effects of penicillin