The Cold War's "Penicillin Boom"

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The phenomenon[]

The Cold War's "Penicillin Boom" occurred roughly between 1955 and 1975, when the creation of new varieties of penicillin (inclusive of several semisynthetic penicillins are effective against a broader spectrum of bacteria: these include the antistaphylococcal penicillins, aminopenicillins, and antipseudomonal penicillins) were at a noticeable high.

The drugs them selves[]

Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from Penicillium moulds, principally P. chrysogenum and P. rubens. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using deep tank fermentation and then purified. A number of natural penicillins have been discovered, but only two purified compounds are in clinical use: penicillin G (for intramuscular or intravenous use) and penicillin V (given by mouth). Penicillins were among the first medications to be effective against many bacterial infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. They are still widely used today for different bacterial infections, though many types of bacteria have developed resistance following extensive use.

10% of the population claims penicillin allergies, but because the frequency of positive skin test results decreases by 10% with each year of avoidance, 90% of these patients can tolerate penicillin. Additionally, those with penicillin allergies can usually tolerate cephalosporins (another group of β-lactam) because the Immunoglobulin E (IgE) cross-reactivity is only 3%.

Penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming as a crude extract of P. rubens. Fleming's student Cecil George Paine was the first to successfully use penicillin to treat eye infection (Ophthalmia neonatorum) in 1930. The purified compound (penicillin F) was isolated in 1940 by a research team led by Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain at the University of Oxford. Fleming first used the purified penicillin to treat streptococcal meningitis in 1942. The 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared by Chain, Fleming, and Florey.

Several semisynthetic penicillins are effective against a broader spectrum of bacteria: these include the antistaphylococcal penicillins, aminopenicillins, and antipseudomonal penicillins.

The lists[]

Before the rise of human kind[]

The fungus genus penicillium lived by making wheat and cavepeople' proto-bread go mouldy, curdling milk, rotting fruit and rotting leaves.

The rise of human kind to medieval times[]

It then went on to food by making rot jams, bread and rot cheeses.

Medieval times to 1799[]

It was used since medieval times to make the blue veins in blue viend cheeses.

Early 19th Century[]

The fungus genus penicillium is both identified and defined during 1809 in Germany.

Mid 19th Century[]

Research continued.

Late 19th Century[]

Research showed that penicillium moulds could kill bacteria, but no one knew how it did so or how to isolate it as a single organism from other things growing on their lab samples.
Penicillin G- France, 1896 (an unviable product).

1900-1913[]

Penicillium chrysogenum- 1910, USA (an unviable product).
First US animal tests- 1911, USA.

1914-1918[]

Research continued.

1919-1938[]

Penicillium rubens- 1928, UK (a viable product).
First UK animal tests- 1929, UK.
Fist medical use- 1930, UK. France and Germany express their general interests in researching penicillin moulds in to.
Penicillium rubens Belgian, 1923 and UK in 1928

1939-1945[]

penicillin F- 1940, UK.
Penicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus appeared in 1943, so research in to Antistaphylococcal penicillins began.
Phenoxymethylpenicillin- USA, 1948

1946-1969[]

Procaine benzylpenicillin- UK, 1948.
Benzathine benzylpenicillin- N\A, 1950.
Pen-Strep- N/A, 1955.
Benzathine phenoxymethylpenicil- N/A 1957.
Amoxicillin- 1958 UK.
Oxacillin- 1960, USA.
Methicillin- 1960, UK.
Cloxacillin 1960, Canada.
Flucloxacillin- 1961, UK and Australia.
Dicloxacillin- 1961, USA.
Ampicillin- 1961, UK.
Ticarcillin- 1963, UK.

1970-1991[]

Pivmecillinam- 1970s, the Nordic Countries.
Mecillinam- 1972, Denmark.
Pivampicillin- 1972, Denmark.
Aminopenicillin- 1972, UK.
Piperacillin- 1974, USA.
Ciclacillin- 1978, N\A.
Epicillin- 1979?, N\A.
Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid- 1984, USA.
Ampicillin/sulbactam- 1987, USA.
Piperacillin/tazobactam- USA, 1993.

1992-to date[]

The research continues on.

Date of discovery is unavailable[]

Almecillin- .
Ampicillin/flucloxacillin- .
Azidocillin- .
Azlocillin- .
Bacampicillin- .
Nafcillin- N/A, USA
Procaine benzylpenicillin- .
Benzylpenicillin- .
Carbenicillin- N\A, UK.
Carboxypenicillin- .
Carfecillin- .
Carindacillin- N\A, USA.
Clometocillin- .
Hetacillin- .
Metampicillin- .
Mezlocillin- .
Propicillin- .
Quinacillin- .
Sulbenicillin- .
Sultamicillin- N\A, Japan.
Talampicillin- N\A, USA.
Temocillin- N\A, UK. It is used primarily for the treatment of multiple drug-resistant, Gram-negative bacteria.
Penamecillin- .
Penimepicycline- N/A, N/A

Life expectancy in years maps[]

Note: Modern figures some times quote retrospectively the USSR's republics' statistics as if they were independent nations, which they were not, but because the USSR was so dominated by Russia that it's stats can be use in place of the USSR's.