Sir Alexander Fleming (born in England in 1881 and died in 1955) was a Scottish biologist, pharmacologist and botanist. He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy.
His best known.discoveries are the enzymes lysozyme (an enzyme that is naturally found in egg whites, human tears, salvia and other bodily fluids; the enzyme is capable of destroying the cell walls of certain bacteria and thereby acting as a mild antiseptic) in 1923 and the antibiotic substance penicillin from the mould Penicillium notatum, (today referred to as Penicillin chrysogenium; a fungus common in temperate and subtropical regions and can be found on some salted food products, but is mostly found in indoor environments, especially in damp water-damaged buildings) in 1928.
What actually happened was that on September 3, 1928, Fleming returned to his laboratory having spent August on holiday with his family. Before leaving, he had stacked all his cultures of staphylococci (a spherical gram-positive parasitic bacterium, usually occurring in grapelike clusters and causing boils, septicemia and other infections) on a bench in a corner of his laboratory. On returning, Fleming noticed that one culture was contaminated with a fungus, and that the colonies of staphylococci that had immediately surrounded it had been destroyed, whereas other colonies farther away were normal.
Fleming showed the contaminated culture to one of his assistants, who reminde<;l him, “That’s how you discovered lysozyme. ” Fleming grew the mould in a pure culture and found that it produced a substance that killed a number is disease-causing bacteria. He identified the mould as being from the Penicillium genus, and, after some months of calling it “mould juice” named the substance it released penicillin on March ih, 1929. Then in 1945 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.
In 1998 Sir Henry Harris (studied under Howard Florey) said: “Without Fleming, no Chain; without Chain, no Florey; without Florey, no Heatley; (Norman Heatley developed the back extraction technique for efficiently purifying penicillin in bulk; actually transferring the active ingredient of penicillin back into water by changing its acidity) without Heatley, no penicillin. ” In 1999, Time Magazine named Fleming one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating: It was the discovery that would change the course of history.
The active ingredient in that mould, which Fleming named penicillin, turned out to be an infection-fighting agent of enormous potency. When it was finally recognized for what it was, the most effective life-saving drug in the world, penicillin would alter forever the treatment of bacterial infections. By the middle of the century, Fleming’s discovery had spawned a huge pharmaceutical industry, churning out synthetic penicillins that would conquer some of mankind’s most ancient scourges, including syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis. Penicillin was called the first pharmaceutical phenomenon, the miracle drug.
The world had seen nothing like this before, turning point in history. It was known as the antibiotic breakthrough; street posters imaging service men in combat, with the statement “Thanks to PENCILLIN … he will come home! People were amazed at what the antibiotic could treat. It gave people strength because they knew how to fight an infection. Since they were never exposed to the medical substance before, they became resistant to bacterial diseases and the human body became immune. It had been a while that there were many diseases, but to the body it was still foreign and it weakened.
There wasn’t an antidote to protect, that was until penicillin came. Regardless of what was happening, people wanted to stay healthy so they depended on many different types of vitamins and hygienic practices. It was suggested that the antiseptics at present in use will only exercise a beneficial effect in a septic wound if they possess the property of stimulating or conserving the natural defense mechanism of the body against infection. With all the crazy concoctions and health methods that didn’t work in the past, it was a relief to everyone from doctors to patients that there was something to depend on.
Penicillin healed injured people because it fought off bacteria from illnesses. The penicillin made it possible for other antibiotic drugs to be made. For instance, Quinine, a bitter crystalline alkaloid extracted from cinchona bark, in which the salts proven by observation and experiment were used chiefly for the prevention and treatment of malaria for years. Yet, penicillin was still world renowned for the being the premier bacteria killer, which prevented diseases, and reduced the spread of infection. Penicillin built up the body’s immune system.
People were becoming resistant to many diseases. Genetics and Evolution The ability to produce penicillin appears to have evolved over thousands of years, and is shared with several other related fungi. It is believed to confer a selective advantage during competition with bacteria for food sources. However, some bacteria have developed the ability to survive penicillin exposure by producing penicillinases, enzymes that degrade penicillin. Penicillinase production is one mechanism by which bacteria can become penicillin resistant.
The principal genes responsible for producing penicillin, pcbAB, pcbC and penDE are closely linked, forming a cluster on chromosome I. Some high-producing Penicillium chrysogenum strains used for the industrial production of penicillin have been shown to have multiple tandem copies of the penicillin gene cluster. The pcb genes encode enzymes involved in penicillin biosynthesis {formation of a chemical compound by a living organism), whereas 11 pen” genes are specific for penicillin pathway. The expression of these genes is subject to sophisticated controls by both nutritional and developmental factors. Current Research Information.
Antibiotic-resistant diseases pose ‘apocalyptic’ threat, top expert tells how this rise in drug resistant diseases could trigger a national emergency comparable to a catastrophic terrorist attack, pandemic flu or major coastal flooding. Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer, said the threat from infections that are resistant to frontline antibiotics was so serious that this should be added to the government’s national risk register of civil emergencies. She described what she called an “apocalyptic scenario” where people going for simple operations in 20 years’ time die of routine infections “because we have run out of antibiotics”.
MRSA the superbug, and Klebsiella, the Gram negative bacteria that can cause different types of healthcare associated infections, including pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound or surgical site infections and meningitis. Increasingly, Klebsiella bacteria have developed antimicrobial resistance, most recently to the class of antibiotics known as carbapenems (similar to penicillin). Klebsiella is practically an epidemic, transferrable in healthcare settings very easily. To prevent spreading Klebsiella infections between patients, healthcare personnel must follow specific infection control precautions.
Some Klebsiella bacteria have become highly resistant to antibiotics. For instance, when bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae produce an enzyme known as carbapenemase (which I defined earlier), then the class of antibiotics called carbapenems will not work to kill the bacteria and treat the infection. What we need are more antibiotics!!! I have found through my research information on the Society of IDSA, Infectious Disease Society of America. The society represents physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases .
IDSA’s purpose is to improve the health of individuals, communities and society by promoting excellence in patient care, education, research, public health and prevention relating to infectious diseases. IDSA formed in 1963. It sprang from two groups, one from Atlantic City and the other from Washington D. C.. Today because of the antibiotic resistances, many bacterial infections have become impossible to treat. New antibiotics are desperately needed to save patients’ lives, but few drugs are in pharmaceutical companies’ research and development pipelines.
Low returns on investments and often infeasible approval pathway at the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have caused many companies to leave the antibiotic market. In 2010 the IDSAlaunched the 10 x 20′ Initiative, which seeks global commitment to create an antibiotic research and development enterprise powerful enough to produce 10 new systemic antibiotics by the year 2020. The initiative was launched as a response to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance and the lack of development of new antibiotics.
New antibiotic development has slowed to a standstill due to market failure and regulatory disincentives, according to IDSA. Antibiotics are not as profitable as other drugs; drugs which treat chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma, which patients take for years . Also the Food and Drug Administration, FDA has long delayed publishing workable guidance describing how companies should design antibiotic clinical trials. Moreover, once a new antibiotic makes it to market, physicians hold it in reserve for only the worst cases rather than rushing to use it on all their patients due to fear of drug resistance.
These economic and regulatory disincentives have made it far too difficult for companies to continue developing new antibiotics. It is estimated that the cost to the U. S. health care system of antibiotic resistant infections is $21 billion to $34 billion in each·year and more than 8 million additional hospital days. In 2011 IDSA published a policy paper titled: “Combating Antimicrobial Resistance: Policy Recommendations to Save Lives” in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The paper urged creation of incentives to support antibiotic research and development and aggressive promotion of the judicious use of currently available antibiotics. Throughout 2012, IDSA garnered support of several medical organizations and pharmaceutical companies for a new FDA approval pathway, called the Limited Population Antibacterial Drug , mechanism, to address an unmet medical need by speeding up development of antibiotics to treat patients who have serious infections for which therapeutic options are insufficient.
The LPAD tool would allow for testing a drug’s safety and effectiveness in smaller, shorter, and less expensive clinical trials, similar to the Orphan Drug Program. In addition to the 10 x 20′ Initiative, IDSA supports legislative and administration efforts to strengthen the U. S. response to antimicrobial (antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or inhibits their growth) resistance, such as coordination and leadership, surveillance, prevention and control, and research efforts.
IDSA also promotes the establishment of antimicrobial programs and integration of good stewardship practices in every health care facility across the United States and is working to eliminate inappropriate uses of antibiotics in food, animals and other aspects of agriculture. In closing I will quote Ms. Davies, “it is clear that we might not ever see global warming, the apocalyptic scenario is that when I need a new hip in 20 years, I’ll die from a routine infection because we have run out of antibiotics. ” Let’s do our part and support ALL legislation to meet the expectations of the 10 x 20′ Initiative.