Penicillin Is First Used on a Patient

Setting the scene

Alexander Fleming had noticed penicillium mold killing bacteria in 1928, but Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at Oxford purified penicillin for clinical use as World War II casualties demanded infection control beyond sulfa drugs.

What happened

Penicillin was first used on a human patient in February 1941 when doctor Charles Fletcher treated policeman Albert Alexander's abscess at the Radcliffe Infirmary, initially improving before supplies ran out and Alexander died.

Why it still matters

Mass production later saved countless lives in WWII through Pfizer and U.S. War Production Board fermentation plants; penicillin launched the antibiotic era, though overuse now fuels resistant superbugs Fleming had warned about in his Nobel lecture.

Background

Mass production later saved countless lives in WWII.