Penicillin

Make use of of penicillin and other antibiotics are very frequent nowadays. The discovery of penicillin has often been express as a wonder drug, and that is accurately what it was. Earlier to the discovery of penicillin, death could occur in what would seem, today to be very minor injuries and diseases. It could arise from minor wounds that became infected or from diseases for example Strep Throat, and venereal diseases for example syphilis and gonorrhea were a much more serious problem.

Early on in 2005, an email came asking for information regarding penicillin. The email was from Dr. Morton Paterson, a retired philosophy professor. He is now living in Canada. He was writing his biography for his grandchildren as a bequest for them. Part of that biography had to do with the impact penicillin take part in in his life. When he emailed me the story, I knew that it was one that I required to share. As a boy, just prior to the discovery of mass producing penicillin, Dr. Paterson had roughly scraped his knee, an injury that he almost died on or after. The following is his account of this injury and how it was treated at that time.