Gerhard Domagk: Sulfonamide drugs
Domagk was a chemist who was inspired by the achievements of Paul Ehrlich’s team. He set out to find dyes that would destroy other infectious microbes within the body. Domagk was very thorough in his work and in 1932 discovered that a dye called prontosil would act against he streptococcus virus. This discovery was then developed by French scientists who found that the drug could also be used against tonsillitis, puerperal fever and scarlet fever. May and Baker, British scientists, discovered that a derivative of the sulfonamide drug could be used against pneumonia.
There were though several disadvantages to this drug. Sulphonamide drugs can damage the kidney, liver and are ineffective against highly virulent microbes.
Worksheet: The Fight against Infectious Disease
Schoolshistory home – History teachers resources – Medical History Timelines – Alexander Fleming – Florey and Chain develop Penicillin – Gerhard Domagk and Prontosil – Edward Jenner and the Smallpox Vaccine – Louis Pasteur and Germ Theory – Robert Koch – The development of Vaccinations – Was Penicillin an accident? – Paul Ehrlich and the Magic Bullet
Medicine Through time – Resources for Medicine Through Time – Prehistoric Medicine – Ancient Egyptian Medicine – Ancient Greek Medicine – Medicine in the Roman Empire – Medieval Medicine – Renaissance Medicine – Public Health in the Industrial Revolution – Fight against infectious disease – Modern Medicine
