Penicillin Overview The penicillins (pen-uh-SILL-ins) are a class of antibiotic compounds derived from the molds Penicillium notatum and Penicillium chrysogenum. The class contains a number of compounds with the same basic bicyclic structure to which...

One of the major advances of twentieth-century medicine is the discovery of penicillin. Penicillin is a member of the class of drugs known as antibiotics. These drugs either kill (bacteriocidal) or arrest the growth of (bacteriostatic) bacteria, fungi...

One of the major advances of twentieth-century medicine was the discovery of penicillin. Penicillin is a member of the class of drugs known as antibiotics. These drugs either kill or arrest (bacteriocidal or bacteriostatic effects, respectively) the...

The discovery of penicillin may be one of the greatest accidents in medical history. Penicillin, found in common molds, is a potent antibacterial medication. Its discovery opened the door to a variety of new "miracle drugs" that have saved the lives of...

Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN) is a group of beta-lactam antibiotics used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms. “Penicillin” is also the informal name of a specific member of the...

A virtually eradicated disease that eats through people's skin, cartilage and bones is reappearing in Africa, Asia and South America, the World Health Organization warned Thursday.Yaws, which is triggered by bacterial infection and can cause debilitating deformations, particularly in children under 15, once affected 50...

“This is bad. This is really bad,” the surgeon told me. “You could lose your leg—or your life. I want you at the hospital in two hours for an operation.” I remember sitting on that cold examining table and looking at my infected knee. I’d...

A nurse tearfully apologized Friday as she pleaded no contest to charges stemming from a drug mixup that led to the death of a 16-year-old patient giving birth.Julie Thao, 42, pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors for obtaining and dispensing a prescription drug without a...

A nurse charged with criminal negligence in a drug mix-up that led to the death of a 16-year-old pregnant girl was suspended Thursday for nine months, the state nursing board said.Julie Thao, 42, was suspended retroactive to July 6, the day after the death of...

Although penicillin was discovered in 1928, scientists did not begin to discover its many benefits until over a decade later. Ordered in mass quantities by the U.S. government as it entered World War II, penicillin was found to be an effective antibiotic for scarlet fever, syphilis, gonorrhea, diphtheria, rheumatic fever, and other diseases.