Penicillin Impact

The American Impact from Penicillin
Everyone in this world is here because of one factor, and that is penicillin. Penicillin is a drug that is used in most, if not all antibiotics. Sir Alexander Fleming is credited with the discovery because of an accidental mistake during a scientific study on Penicillium Notatum mold. While returning from a holiday break on September 3, 1928, Fleming never knew he would be discovering the drug that has saved a countless number of lives throughout time. Penicillin has had the greatest impact on American society because it has cured many life threatening infections, helped keep people healthy during war, and started the antibiotic era, which is considered the turning point of medication.
Everyday, millions
According to scientist Katie Kalvaitis, “Penicillin helped reduce the number of deaths and amputations of troops during World War II” (Oatman). Because of less deaths, more troops were able to keep fighting. Also, there were many less tragic wounds or incidences. An online article says penicillin is an effective way to save troops “by attacking open wounds with penicillin and sterilization surgeries with antiseptics, army doctors were able to revitalize troops more quickly” (Bradley). With more troopers being saved or cured, America’s soldiers could remain healthy and go back to the front line or battlefield. This resulted in an effective way of helping America win the wars. “Penicillin was used in World War II to keep infections from spreading” (Bradley). Jeremy Bradley is stating that most diseases were stopped and prevented from spreading to others around the person infected. This helped prevent the deaths of people throughout the camp. Jeremy Bradley also says “Penicillin was also used to solve a problem that plagued the battlefield- the wait time between when a soldier was wounded and when he was seen by a doctor for surgery or treatment” (Bradley). A doctor was very stressed when trying to cure every soldier wounded, but when they could quickly apply penicillin, the stress amount decreased. As a result,
“The discovery of penicillin changed the course of medicine and has enabled physicians to treat formerly severe and life-threatening illnesses such as bacterial endocarditis, meningitis, pneumococcal pneumonia, gonorrhea, and syphilis” (Kalvaitis). Therefore, less deaths occurred because of a higher amount of infections being cured. This led to many people in the public starting to realize just how important the drug really is. “Penicillins are a group of antibiotics used to treat a large range of bacterial infections” (Newman). Before the discovery, no other known drug could do this. Many more lives are saved now then they were before the finding of penicillin. “It is argued that without Fleming, the antibiotic era would have never dawned. As a result, many of the recent developments in medicine, such as organ transplantation, might have been delayed or, at best, made more hazardous” (Alharbi, et al.). This is important because more people could get organ transplants successfully at a smaller risk. Luckily, the dawn of the antibiotic age had finally arrived and life spans had dramastically