In the early 1900s, deaths from infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia, were common. Scratches, cuts, or dental work could become life-threatening if they became infected. Luckily, in 1928, Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered the first antibiotic when he noticed a blue mould called Penicillium notatum which had contaminated his experiments on bacteria. When he looked more closely, Fleming noted that the ‘mould juice’ killed some of the bacteria. The extracted antibiotic is called penicillin.

During World War II, penicillin changed the way healthcare providers treated illnesses and wounds. As a result, infection killed less than 1% of the soldiers, compared to World War I, where it killed 18% of the soldiers.

Fleming won the Nobel Prize in 1954 for discovering penicillin or the ‘Wonder Drug’. However, Fleming warned the public that doctors were abusing penicillin by using it in patients who did not need it. He said, “The microbes are educated to resist penicillin. A host of penicillin-fast organisms is bred out, which can be passed to other individuals and perhaps from there to others until they reach someone who gets septicaemia or pneumonia, who cannot be saved by penicillin. In such cases, the thoughtless person playing with penicillin is morally responsible for the man’s death, who finally succumbs to infection with the penicillin-resistant organism. I hope this evil can be averted.” [1]

More recently a large number of other antibiotics, which are related to penicillin and work in a similar way, have been produced.  However, resistance to these is also growing.

Check out this video about penicillin:

References

1 Fleming, A. (1945, June 26). PENICILLIN'S FINDER ASSAYS ITS FUTURE; Sir Alexander Fleming Says Improved Dosage Method Is Needed to Extend Use Other Scientists Praised Self-Medication Decried. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1945/06/26/archives/penicillins-finder-assays-its-future-sir-alexander-fleming-says.html