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Nasya Kudryanska

Ad for penicillin, Life Magazine, 8/14/1944.

MIXED MESSAGE: SMOKE AND RECOVER? WW2 poster, NARA ID 515170.

#OTD 1928 "WONDER DRUG" Penicillin Discovered Modern medicine saves lives - antibiotics & vaccines By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Stay tuned: Anti-Vaxxer Ben Franklin's Biggest Regret

During WWI, tens of thousands of service personnel died not from their actual wounds but from sepsis, a massive body-wide infection. At the time, very little could be done to prevent these deaths. However, one of the many who sought to help was bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, who as a captain in WWI saw many wounded men die from such infections.

#OTD 1928, Fleming's accidental discovery transformed modern medicine. He'd left a plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, and saw that a mold (similar to the kind found on moldy bread) that had fallen on the culture had killed many of the bacteria. He called the mold by-product penicillin.

“When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I guess that was exactly what I did." ---Dr. Alexander Fleming

Commercial production of penicillin began after the start of WWII. In advance of D-Day, scientists prepared more than two million doses. Government communicators worked with the pharmaceutical industry to produce a robust ad campaign - including posters below from our holdings - to establish penicillin as "the wonder drug." The posters - a snapshot of the time - include a happy soldier smoking while recovering in bed, anti-Japanese propaganda, and concerns about STDs. See Powers of Persuasion online exhibit.

NARA ID 183507561.

NARA ID 183507561.

NARA ID 183507560.

NARA ID 515171.

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