Treatment since 1900

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Treatment since 1900

Magic bullets

Koch discovered that different chemical Behring discovered the body manufacturers antitoxins that only attack the microbe causing a disease.

dyes stained specific microbes.

Paul Enrich and his team looked for a magic bullet that would attack and kill a microbe causing a specific disease.

The team funded by the German government worked for many years. They tested many compounds of Salvarsan to find one to cure syphilis.

In 1909, Dr Hata joined the team and discovered they had rejected a compound that worked - the 606th.

In 1932, Gerhard Domagk developed the second magic bullet which cured some types of blood poison.

Other scientists checking Domagk's work found that the key ingredient cured pneumonia, scarlet fever and meningitis.

Penicillin

In 1928 Alexander Fleming noticed that bacteria in petri dish was being killed by a penicillium mould. He tested it on other bacteria and discovered that mould produced an excellent antibiotic.

In 1929, Fleming published his findings but had no funding to continue his research.

Several years later, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain and their team continued Fleming's research on penicillin.

It proved effective on mice, so it was tested on humans. Penicillin killed the bacteria and therefore the infection - it was a miracle drug.

However, the mould had to be grown in huge quantities to be effective. British factories (destroyed by war) and British drug companies were working flat out to produce other drugs needed for war. In June 1941 Florey asked US drug companies for help. They refused but when the US entered the war and antibiotics were needed for injuries to soldiers, the US government offered funding.

The growth of pharmaceutical industry

Chemical cures and substances that cure bacterial infections led to rapid growth in pharmaceutical industry. Most chemical cures were injected at first, but technology developed in the late-19th century was now used to mass produce pills so they could be taken home.

Blood transfusions

In 1901 Karl Landsteiner discovered there were four blood groups and a donor and a patient had to have the same blood group for transfusions to work.