The History of Methicillin
Penicillin wasn't the be all and end all. Roughly three decades after that antibiotic was introduced, another came on the scene in the summer of 1959 as a semi-synthetic alternative to penicillin. That antibiotic was methicillin, which had its run up until the 1990s. Its name and legacy continue to live on in the strains of bacteria that were resistant to the drug virtually from its inception.
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Penicillin
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To understand methicillin is to understand its predecessor, penicillin. Before the introduction of this antibiotic, the death rate from a bacteria known as staph was 70 percent. By 1944, roughly a decade after penicillin was born, that figure had plummeted to 25 percent, according to the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Problems started to occur as certain strains of the staph infection began to develop resistance to penicillin. From that point onward, the search was on for an alternative antibiotic to fight these ever-changing strains of bacteria.
Introduction
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In 1959, a team of scientists with UK-based pharmaceutical company Beecham produced that alternative--what was to be the world's first semi-synthetic type of penicillin. This variety, known as methicillin, was made by altering the chemical compounds present in penicillin, according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
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Marketing
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Methicillin was first marketed through Beecham's subsidiary, CL Bencard, a company that specialized in products to combat allergies. It was first introduced through the name Celbenin, according to "Antimicrobial Drugs: Chronicle of a Twentieth Century Medical Triumph" by David Greenwood. Over the years, modifications were made to the drug, resulting in different derivatives, like oxacillin, that were sold in different parts of the world.
MSRA
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Just as penicillin before it, strains of staph aureus started to appear virtually as soon as the drug was available, according to the Journal for Anti-Microbial Chemotherapy. In fact, outbreaks of staph aureus began to occur so frequently that this phenomenon was given a name: Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA). This strain is particularly plentiful in hospital and other health care environments. Not only is it resistant to methicillin, but it can also be resistant to other forms of antibiotics, which can make it very difficult to treat, according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
Use
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According to Antimicrobial Drugs, methicillin was discontinued in 1993. Its name has continued to survive because of the strain that was so resistant to it and other antibiotics--MRSA. It has since been replaced in the United States by other drugs, such as oxacillin and nafcillin, according to Johns Hopkins.
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