1942

“Miracle cures” of Harry Lambert in England (treated by Fleming) and of Mrs. Ogden Miller at Yale convinced British and American officials, respectively, of the importance of penicillin to war effort (Macfarlane, 193-96). Use of penicillin to treatment victims of Cocoanut Grove fire of 29 Nov in Boston; surgeon Champ Lyons given penicillin to treat 13 fire victims with staphylococcal infections of the respiratory tract: owing to lose dose of penicillin, Lyons couldn’t accurately appraise efficacy of penicillin therapy (Neushal, 203, 207-209). First penicillin-resistant strains of staphylococci isolated (Wainwright, 85; Dowling, 142-44). Feldman & Hinshaw (Mayo Clinic) conduct trial of Promin (created by manipulation of the sulphonamides molecule) in treatment of TB; it was the first trial in history “in which a drug had been shown favorably to influence the course of the disease in human beings” (F Ryan, 227-28).