"If we are not careful, we soon will be in the post-antibiotic era, and for some patients and some microbes we are already there"- Tom Friedan Antibiotics revolutionized medicine in the 20th century. The era of antibacterial chemotherapy began in 1907 with the discovery of arsphenamine, first synthesized by Alferd Bertheim and Paul Ehrlich in 1907, used to treat syphilis. The first systemically active antibiotic, Prontosil was discovered in 1933 by Gerhard Domagk, for which he was awarded the 1939 Nobel Prize. Fleming's accidental discovery and isolation of penicillin in September 1928 marked the start of modern antibiotics. It was a discovery that changed the course of history and saved millions of lives.
© Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2011.