Reserve Constable Albert Alexander (1896 – 15 March 1941) was the first[1]patient to be treated with injections of penicillin.
Albert Alexander was a constable in the police force of the County of Oxford, England.[2] A bombing raid is likely the cause of the injuries sustained by Constable Alexander that was to become the source of his bacterial infection, rather than what became the prevailing narrative, a scratch by a rose thorn on his face.[1] Alexander became badly infected with both Staphylococcus and Streptococcus and was hospitalised in the Radcliffe Infirmary. Despite efforts of various treatments, Alexander's head was covered with abscesses and one of his eyes had been removed.[3]
Dr Ethel Florey, lab partner and wife of pharmacologist and medic Dr Howard Walter Florey, and Dr Charles Fletcher brought Constable Alexander's case to Florey's attention.
The ability of penicillin to slow or counteract bacterial infection had first been noticed by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928. Florey, Ernst Boris Chain and Norman Heatley, at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford were working on the medical applications of penicillin, as produced by the mould Penicillium notatum, and attempting to isolate quantities of penicillin from the mould large enough for a human trial.[4]
Having tried the extracted penicillin only on mice, Florey and colleagues were fearful of the side effects large doses of penicillin might have. For a human volunteer, they needed a patient who was in a terminal condition; Constable Alexander suited this requirement.
On 12 February 1941, Constable Alexander was given an intravenous infusion of 160 mg (200 units) of penicillin. Within 24 hours, Alexander's temperature had dropped, his appetite had returned and the infection had begun to heal. However, due to the instability of penicillin and the war-time restrictions placed on Florey's laboratory, only a small quantity of penicillin had been extracted and, although Florey and colleagues extracted any remaining penicillin from Alexander's urine, by the fifth day they had run out.[2]
Without the supply of penicillin to continue treatment, Constable Alexander relapsed and died on 15 March 1941.[3][5]
Florey and his team decided to work only on sick children who did not need such large amounts of penicillin, until their methods of production improved.[6] This was not a trivial challenge: penicillin production varied widely depending on the conditions in which it was grown. During World War II, several American companies tried to scale up production. In the words of Pfizer executive John Smith, “The mold is as temperamental as an opera singer, the yields are low, the isolation murder, the purification invites disaster.”[7] Nonetheless, by March 15, 1945, supplies of penicillin were not only available to American troops, but to the American public, as war-time restrictions on availability were lifted.[8]
^ ab"Making Penicillin Possible: Norman Heatley Remembers". ScienceWatch. Thomson Scientific. 2007. from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
^. Famous Fungi. The Fungal Research Trust]. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
^(PDF). Marvellous micro-organisms. Primary Connections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
^Bowden, Mary Ellen (2018). "Old Brew, New Brew". Distillations. Science History Institute. 4 (2): 8–11. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
^"Discovery and Development of Penicillin". International Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
December 15, 2023
albert, alexander, police, officer, reserve, constable, albert, alexander, 1896, march, 1941, first, patient, treated, with, injections, penicillin, albert, alexander, constable, police, force, county, oxford, england, bombing, raid, likely, cause, injuries, s. Reserve Constable Albert Alexander 1896 15 March 1941 was the first 1 patient to be treated with injections of penicillin Albert Alexander was a constable in the police force of the County of Oxford England 2 A bombing raid is likely the cause of the injuries sustained by Constable Alexander that was to become the source of his bacterial infection rather than what became the prevailing narrative a scratch by a rose thorn on his face 1 Alexander became badly infected with both Staphylococcus and Streptococcus and was hospitalised in the Radcliffe Infirmary Despite efforts of various treatments Alexander s head was covered with abscesses and one of his eyes had been removed 3 Dr Ethel Florey lab partner and wife of pharmacologist and medic Dr Howard Walter Florey and Dr Charles Fletcher brought Constable Alexander s case to Florey s attention The ability of penicillin to slow or counteract bacterial infection had first been noticed by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928 Florey Ernst Boris Chain and Norman Heatley at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology University of Oxford were working on the medical applications of penicillin as produced by the mould Penicillium notatum and attempting to isolate quantities of penicillin from the mould large enough for a human trial 4 Having tried the extracted penicillin only on mice Florey and colleagues were fearful of the side effects large doses of penicillin might have For a human volunteer they needed a patient who was in a terminal condition Constable Alexander suited this requirement On 12 February 1941 Constable Alexander was given an intravenous infusion of 160 mg 200 units of penicillin Within 24 hours Alexander s temperature had dropped his appetite had returned and the infection had begun to heal However due to the instability of penicillin and the war time restrictions placed on Florey s laboratory only a small quantity of penicillin had been extracted and although Florey and colleagues extracted any remaining penicillin from Alexander s urine by the fifth day they had run out 2 Without the supply of penicillin to continue treatment Constable Alexander relapsed and died on 15 March 1941 3 5 Florey and his team decided to work only on sick children who did not need such large amounts of penicillin until their methods of production improved 6 This was not a trivial challenge penicillin production varied widely depending on the conditions in which it was grown During World War II several American companies tried to scale up production In the words of Pfizer executive John Smith The mold is as temperamental as an opera singer the yields are low the isolation murder the purification invites disaster 7 Nonetheless by March 15 1945 supplies of penicillin were not only available to American troops but to the American public as war time restrictions on availability were lifted 8 References edit a b Wood Jonathan 2010 July 16 Penicillin the Oxford story Retrieved from http www ox ac uk news science blog penicillin oxford story a b Discovery of penicillin American Chemical Society a b Making Penicillin Possible Norman Heatley Remembers ScienceWatch Thomson Scientific 2007 Archived from the original on 21 February 2007 Retrieved 2007 02 13 Penicillium notatum and the antibiotic revolution Famous Fungi The Fungal Research Trust Archived from the original on 8 February 2007 Retrieved 2007 02 13 Johnson Steven 2021 Extra Life 1st ed Riverhead Books pp 157 158 ISBN 978 0 525 53885 1 Penicillin the miracle mould PDF Marvellous micro organisms Primary Connections Archived from the original PDF on 2006 09 06 Retrieved 2007 02 13 Bowden Mary Ellen 2018 Old Brew New Brew Distillations Science History Institute 4 2 8 11 Retrieved August 21 2018 Discovery and Development of Penicillin International Historic Chemical Landmarks American Chemical Society Retrieved August 21 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Albert Alexander police officer amp oldid 1163661829, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
