[The penicillin support of medical institutions in the USSR during second half of 1940s].

The article, on the basis of declassified archival documents, considers the issue of centralized state distribution of penicillin in the USSR in the second half of 1940s. The mechanism of determining the need in medication using special coefficient is presented. It is demonstrated that in conditions of acute shortage, this approach became an attempt to ensure physical accessibility of medication for patient. However, by the end of 1940s, when acute shortage was overcome, free state supplies created preconditions for mismanagement and misuse at national and local levels, that affected timing and volume of supplies of antibiotic to medical institutions, as well as quality of medication supplied to patient. The district hospitals of provincial towns occurred in the worst condition. The article presents the facts testifying that penicillin supply solved not only health problems, but also domestic and foreign policy problems of the post-war USSR.

[An allied miracle cure; how liberators introduced penicillin in the Netherlands]. / Een geallieerd wondermiddel.

The introduction of penicillin to medical practice in the Netherlands is closely related to the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation. The allied forces brought penicillin - of which they had vast quantities - to the Netherlands and introduced it to Dutch doctors. In many of the oldest documented cases involving the use of penicillin in the Netherlands, allied army doctors gave the ampoules of penicillin to Dutch doctors, who used the until then unknown medicine as a last-resort drug to treat patients with severe infections that had failed to respond to other treatments. The archives of the Dutch Journal of Medicine (NTvG) contain numerous interesting examples of case reports. A public call on the website of the Dutch public news broadcaster NOS resulted in several other apt examples. It is, however, not known exactly who the first Dutch patient to receive penicillin was.

[The problem of initial stage of mass production of penicillin in the USSR].

The article analyzes the problems of initial stage of mass production of penicillin in the USSR on the basis of documents of the State archive of the Russian Federation. The analysis covered declassified documents of the funds of the Narkomzdrav of the USSR, the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the A. M. Gorky All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine (VIEM). The secret correspondence of the People's Commissar of Health Care with the Government, with the Head of the Department of Biochemistry of Microbes and experimental production laboratory of VIEM Z. V. Ermolieva, with Directors of plants for organization of production of penicillin is analyzed. The transcripts of meetings and orders of the People's Commissar of Health Care are considered. It is demonstrated that development of production facilities and provision of health care with antibiotics was an extremely difficult task. Its solution was complicated by many factors such as the inaccessibility of advanced methods of deep fermentation, general technological backwardness, organizational problems associated with specificity of management and public decision-making. It is established that during 1944 the main producer of penicillin was the laboratory of VIEM and serial production of penicillin at the Karpov enterprise and plant of endocrine drugs in Moscow began only in late 1944, and amount production was were extremily not enough. In this situation, in early 1945, G. A. Miterev, the People's Commissar of Health Care, raised the question of buying plants for the production of penicillin in the United States. However, the final decision was not taken by the government. The attempt to devote part of the resources of the Central Military Sanitary Department of the Red Army for ensuring public health with antibiotic failed. In 1945, enterprises of the People's Commissariat of Meat and Dairy Industry were involved in the production of penicillin. At all enterprises of the USSR in the end of 1945, production of antibiotic was carried out by surface fermentation and liquid penicillin was produced, except for the A. Mikoyan Moscow meat-packing plant, where the production of drug in dry form was established. The outdated technologies and limited scale of production determined lower productivity of enterprises, which did not allow to cover the needs of health care even approximately.

The British Army's contribution to tropical medicine.

Infectious disease has burdened European armies since the Crusades. Beginning in the 18th century, therefore, the British Army has instituted novel methods for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of tropical diseases. Many of the diseases that are humanity's biggest killers were characterised by medical officers and the acceptance of germ theory heralded a golden era of discovery and development. Luminaries of tropical medicine including Bruce, Wright, Leishman and Ross firmly established the British Army's expertise in this area. These innovations led to the prevention of many deaths of both military personnel and civilians. British Army doctors were instrumental in establishing many of the teaching facilities that we now consider to be global leaders in tropical medicine. The impact of the Army in this field has certainly been significant in the past and its contribution continues to this day.

Hans Enoch and vivicillin.

Hans Emmanuel Enoch (1896-1991) was born in Hamburg, the son of a manufacturer of sera and vaccines. Upon his father's death, he took charge of the Hamburg Serum Werke. Following the rise of Hitler, he came to be pilloried in the Nazi press for allegedly having poisoned the population of Hamburg and was imprisoned for a time. He immigrated to England in 1935 where he had secured a position with the International Serum Company in Norwich. Following the outbreak of war, he was interned as an enemy alien, eventually ending up in Canada. In 1941, he was permitted to return to England, but wartime conditions prevented him from continuing to manufacture sera. At about this time, penicillin was making the headlines, and coupled with accounts of its miraculous properties, was the news that all production was reserved exclusively for the armed forces. Enoch decided to meet the public clamour for penicillin by producing a crude version which he termed 'vivicillin.' News of this spread globally, and he came to incur the disdain of Howard Florey for the attendant publicity. Notwithstanding this, vivicillin was to prove itself effective and its use led to the saving of lives.

A brief history of antibiotics and select advances in their synthesis.

The advent of modern antibiotics contributed enormously to the dramatic extension of human lifespan since their discovery by virtue of their lethal and selective action against pathogenic microbes. And yet despite our powerful arsenal of weapons against these pathogens, the war against them has not been won. And it may never be. Drug resistance is still menacing the society with many lives being lost due to deadly infections caused by continuously evolving strains spread beyond our means to eradicate them or prevent their spreading. Herein, the emergence and evolution of antibiotics is briefly reviewed, and a select number of total syntheses of naturally occurring antibiotics from the authors' laboratories are highlighted. The article concludes with a strong endorsement of the current efforts to intensify our fight against these dangerous pathogens with the hope that, this time, these initiatives will be sufficiently focused and serious enough so as to achieve our set goals of, at least, being prepared and ahead of them as part of our drive to improve humanity's healthcare and wellbeing.

Regulation, circulation and distribution of penicillin in Portugal (1944-1954).

Portugal did not participate in World War II but was one of the first countries in the world to receive penicillin for civilian use. The Portuguese Red Cross began to import the antibiotic from the United States of America in 1944 and appointed a controlling committee to oversee its distribution, due to the small amount available. In 1945, as world production increased, penicillin began to be distributed through the normal channels. An important role in its regulation was played by the official department responsible for controlling pharmaceutical and chemical products in Portugal, the Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos (Regulatory Committee for Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products). Penicillin was imported as a raw material from 1947 and the first medicaments containing penicillin, prepared in Portugal, were released into the commercial circuit in 1948. A laboratory had been established in 1942 by the Comissão Reguladora for the analytical verification of medicaments and medicinal products with the aim of certifying their quality and minimizing the number of products with no attested therapeutic efficacy. The number of medicaments analysed by this laboratory increased substantially from 72 in the year of its foundation (1942) to 2478 in 1954, including, after 1948, medicaments containing penicillin. The aim of the present paper was to elucidate the role of the Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos in regulating and controlling the distribution of penicillin in Portugal during the 1940s and 1950s.

Miracle near 34th street: Wartime Penicillin Research at St John's University, NY.

In the spring of 1944 Sister Marie Immaculate was awarded a Master of Science degree for research on penicillin which she had conducted at St John's University in Brooklyn, New York. She gave her motivation for undertaking research in this topic as wishing to fulfil her patriotic duty by participating in the quest towards making penicillin more readily available to all who needed it. It is possible that contemporary media reports suggesting that the power of penicillin was comparable to a miracle cure contributed to her interest in the subject at the time. In practical terms, her work was to have no bearing in increasing the availability of penicillin, but simply by becoming engaged in this endeavour, it could be argued that she was enacting the beliefs underlying her religious calling. This article explores those beliefs, and proposes an ideological synergy between science and religion in respect to Sister Marie Immaculate's faith in penicillin's potential to cure the world's ills.

A re-appraisal of the conventional history of antibiosis and Penicillin.

The popular perception of the history of antibiosis and penicillin is that Alexander Fleming was the sole researcher on penicillin. The literature, however, has documentation of preceding persons who reported definitively on these topics, from the late 19th century. Divergent reports on "firsts" in the discovery of antimicrobial activity of Penicillium and on the use of penicillin as a therapeutic agent, are present. This review adds knowledge from diverse sources, and restores historical priorities to the conventional story of Penicillin.

Aspectos sociales, técnicos y económicos relativos a la introducción de la penicilina en España (1944-1959) / Social, technical and economic aspects related to the introduction of penicillin in Spain (1944-1959)

Analizamos el proceso de introducción de la penicilina en España desde varios frentes: los proyectos que conllevaron a su fabricación por empresas nacionales, dentro de la política autárquica trazada por las autoridades españolas durante el franquismo; las solicitudes, por parte de empresas españolas, de patentes de invención concernientes a procesos industriales relacionados con la penicilina; su difusión desde los medios de comunicación, la visión que de ella ofrecen los profesionales del medicamento y la repercusión social que la introducción del producto tuvo en España (AU)

We analyze the process of introduction of penicillin in Spain from several sides: the projects that led to its manufacture by national companies as result of the autarkic policy established during the Franco regime; the requests done by Spanish companies for patents of industrial processes related to penicillin; its dissemination by the media, the view offered by the professionals and the social impact that the product had in Spain (AU)

Regulação, circulação e distribuição da penicilina em Portugal (1944-1954) / Regulation, circulation and distribution of penicillin in Portugal (1944-1954)

Portugal foi um dos primeiros países do mundo, não participantes na II Guerra Mundial, a obter penicilina para uso civil. Em 1944 o medicamento começou a ser importado dos Estados Unidos da América pela Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa, mas como as quantidades eram escassas a sua distribuição foi confiada a uma comissão controladora constituída pela instituição. Em 1945, com o aumento da produção mundial, a penicilina foi integrada no circuito comercial de venda de medicamentos. A Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos, fundada em 1940, enquadrada na política normalizadora do Estado Novo, com a finalidade de tutelar a atividade farmacêutica e o comércio dos medicamentos, exerceu um importante papel na regulação da venda do antibiótico. Entre 1945 e 1947 a penicilina foi importada como medicamento. A partir de 1947 a penicilina começou a ser importada como matéria-prima e em 1948 foram lançadas no mercado as primeiras especialidades farmacêuticas com penicilina preparadas em Portugal. Para garantir a qualidade dos medicamentos e minimizar a existência de produtos sem eficácia terapêutica comprovada a Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos estabeleceu, em 1942, um laboratório para proceder à verificação analítica de medicamentos e produtos medicinais. Somente a partir de 1948, após o início da produção nacional de medicamentos com penicilina, é que o antibiótico começou a ser verificado analiticamente. A produção industrial de penicilina em Portugal surgiu em 1966. No presente artigo pretendemos demonstrar o papel da Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos na regulamentação e no controlo da penicilina em Portugal no contexto dos outros medicamentos, bem como dar a conhecer o modo de regulação, circulação e distribuição da penicilina em Portugal nos anos 40 e 50 do século XX (AU)

Portugal did not participate in World War II but was one of the first countries in the world to receive penicillin for civilian use. The Portuguese Red Cross began to import the antibiotic from the United States of America in 1944 and appointed a controlling committee to oversee its distribution, due to the small amount available. In 1945, as world production increased, penicillin began to be distributed through the normal channels. An important role in its regulation was played by the official department responsible for controlling pharmaceutical and chemical products in Portugal, the Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos (Regulatory Committee for Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products). Penicillin was imported as a raw material from 1947 and the first medicaments containing penicillin, prepared in Portugal, were released into the commercial circuit in 1948. A laboratory had been established in 1942 by the Comissão Reguladora for the analytical verification of medicaments and medicinal products with the aim of certifying their quality and minimizing the number of products with no attested therapeutic efficacy. The number of medicaments analysed by this laboratory increased substantially from 72 in the year of its foundation (1942) to 2478 in 1954, including, after 1948, medicaments containing penicillin. The aim of the present paper was to elucidate the role of the Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos in regulating and controlling the distribution of penicillin in Portugal during the 1940s and 1950s

[Untreated syphilis - from Oslo to Tuskegee]. / Ubehandlet syfilis ­ fra Oslo til Tuskegee.

In the period from 1891 - 1910, around 2000 patients with syphilis were admitted to the Department of Dermatology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet. The head of the department, Cæsar Boeck (1845 - 1917), believed in allowing the disease to take its natural course and withheld treatment. He made detailed notes of the diagnosis and the clinical course of the disease for all his patients. Boeck's material is unique, and forms the basis for our current knowledge about the prognosis and course of syphilis infections. In 1928, the patients were scrutinised by Boeck's successor in the Department of Dermatology, Edvin Bruusgaard (1869 - 1934), and later by Trygve Gjestland (1911 - 1993). Gjestland's doctoral thesis from 1955 has remained as «The Oslo study of untreated syphilis.¼ This article presents a medical historical background for the study. Bruusgaard's and Gjestland's research was important for the Tuskegee Study in the USA, and the Oslo study gave implicit support to this research project, which posterity has emphatically condemned as ethically unacceptable.

Penicillin: promise, problems and practice in wartime Edinburgh.

While medical historians have paid ample attention to the introduction of antibiotics and their impact on hospital-based practice during and after the Second World War, the multiple issues surrounding their use in Scottish hospitalsare sorely lacking in current discussions. Drawing on an extensive yet underused range of materials including patient treatment records, oral histories and medical correspondence, this paper explores the introduction of penicillin for civilian treatment at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh during the closing stages of the War. It highlights the success of the drug in clinical treatment as well as its shortcomings, offering an alternative view of its initial impact on surgical practice.