Question

Which of the following illnesses should be treated with penicillin as the preferred treatment?​

Answer 1

In 1929, Alexander Fleming isolated penicillin from a strain of Penicillium notatum (84). By 1941, benzylpenicillin could be produced in sufficient quantity to treat several infected patients. Clinical trials with the agent, conducted by Florey and colleagues, were successful and during World War II, benzylpenicillin was used to treat patients with streptococcal, gonococcal, and treponemal infections. Shortages of the agent continued until the late 1940s when production of large amounts of drug became possible by a deep-fermentation procedure (85). Since then, many synthetic penicillins have been developed, but resistance to the agents has increased. Despite the emergence of resistance to penicillins and the development of other classes of anti-infective agents, the penicillins remain one of the most important anti-infective classes of drugs well into the nineties. In fact, penicillin G is still the drug of choice for many types of infections, including syphilis and certain types of endocarditis