Penicillin

Penicillin is an antibiotic that is obtained from the mold Penicillium rubrum. It was first discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945. Penicillin was first used to treat bacterial infections in 1941.

After this, a number of other natural penicillins were obtained, which are used to treat various infections. The main ones are penicillin G (or benzylpenicillin), given intravenously or orally to treat abscesses, and penicillin V (or phenoxymethylpenicillin), taken orally. These drugs have virtually no serious side effects, but some patients may experience allergic reactions to penicillin such as rash, swelling of the larynx and fever.

Similar drugs obtained from Penicillium also include benzathine penicillin and procaine penicillin. All of these penicillins are beta-lactam antibiotics that are sensitive to the enzyme penicillinase.

There are many semisynthetic penicillin antibiotics, which include amoxicillin, ampicillin, cloxacillin sodium and flucloxacillin.

A fungal infection can occur in anyone. Even with a minor injury or overwork, a person’s immunity can decrease, so the risk of contracting an infection increases. In this case, antibacterial therapy may help. They are well aware of the importance of such therapy using examples from history. For example, residents of India have been using the drug penicillin to treat infections for a thousand years, and about a century ago, only an antibiotic from grapefruits