The twentieth century generated a surfeit of discoveries and innovations that transformed the face of medicine. The rapid advancements in medicine during this era was enhanced by the extensive improvements in communication amid scientists globally (Zatravkin, 2017). In the twentieth century, ongoing studies majored on the nature of infectious disorders and their modes of transmission. In 1903, Behring introduced a toxin-antitoxin mixture vaccine for diphtheria. In 1923, Gaston Ramon, a French bacteriologist, introduced a more efficient toxoid. August Von Wassermann named his syphilis blood test in 1906. Charles Mantoux introduced a tuberculosis skin test. In 1908. Albert Calmetter and Camille Guerin introduced a weak strain of tubercle bacillus in 1908 (Zatravkin, 2017).
Around 1921, children’s vaccination against tuberculosis commonly known as BCG was developed. A significant number of pathogenic organisms were uncovered and classified, for instance, rickettsias which causes disorders like typhus, protozoans that malaria and other tropical disorders. Viruses that cause diseases like measles, mumps, polio and German measles were also discovered. In 1910, a researcher named Peyton Rous revealed that a virus could malignant tumor; this was a sarcoma in chickens (Kropf et al, 2017). The search for the treatment of infectious disorders was aimed at chemical remedies and vaccines. Paul Ehrlich, a German medical student, carried out studies on lead poisoning and evolved a theory to guide his subsequent work that focused on the idea that particular tissues possess a selective affinity for particular chemicals.
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He did experiments on the impact of various chemical substances on disease organisms. In the year 1910, Ehrlich and his colleague Sahachiro Hata conducted analyses on arsphenamine; their success endorsed the chemotherapeutic era that was to advance the control and treatment of infectious disorders. In 1932, Gerhard Domagk, a German bacteriologist publicized that prontosil, a red dye is active against streptococcal infection in humans and mice. Later, French employees revealed that prontosil’s active antibacterial agent was sulfanilamide. In 1936, Leonard Colebrook, an English physician, and his colleagues presented an overwhelming proof of the efficiency of sulfanilamide and prontosil in streptococcal septicemia; this initiated the sulfonamide era (Kropf et al, 2017). In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered the inhibitory action of a stray mold ( Penicillium-p notatum strain) on a staphylococcus bacteria’s plate culture and this resulted to its famous drug name penicillin. In 1938, Howard Florey and colleagues isolated penicillin in a pure form and demonstrated its comparative lack of toxicity and potency. In the 1930s toxoid, and effective vaccine for diphtheria and tetanus was discovered.
In 1944, Elizabeth Bugie, Albert Schatz, and Selman Waksman discovered streptomycin from soil organism cultures, Streptomyces griseus , and stated its active nature against M. tuberculosis (Zatravkin, 2017). During the 1950s, the active search for antibiotics resulted to the streaming of a wider range of antibiotics, stronger than penicillin; this resulted to the production of semisynthetic antibiotics. Edward Jenner developed the vaccination against the chicken pox virus. Elie Metchnikoff discovered the role of white blood cells in the reaction of the immune system. Jules Bordet detected antibodies in the samples of blood serum. In the 21 st century, various advancements in medicine are still being introduced. Some of the innovations include robotic surgeries, human genome projects, bionic hands, camera pill, HIV cocktails, cancer immunotherapy, stem heart cells, liquid biopsy for cancer, artificial retina, functional MRIs, nano-medicine, and the artificial liver and kidney (Zatravkin, 2017).
References
KROPF, S. P., & HOWELL, J. D. (2017). War, Medicine, and Cultural Diplomacy in the Americas: Frank Wilson and Brazilian cardiology. Journal of The History Of Medicine & Allied Sciences , 72(4), 422-447. doi:10.1093/jhmas/jrx043
Zatravkin, S. N. (2017). On the periodization of the history of medicine and scientific revolutions in medicine in the 17th-21st centuries. History of Medicine , 4(1), 73-81. doi:10.17720/2409-5834.v4.1.2017.08h
