Alexander Fleming |

This week we celebrate Get Smart About Antibiotics Week. Antibiotics, or antimicrobials as they are also called, cure bacterial infections by killing bacteria or reducing their ability to reproduce so your own body’s immune system can overcome an infection. Penicillin was the first antibiotic, and was discovered in 1924 by Alexander Fleming. Since its widespread use, beginning in the 1940s, countless lives have been saved from devastating bacterial infections. Talk about a wonder drug!

Improper use of antibiotics can have dangerous consequences.

Since then, different types of antibiotics have been developed to combat many different types of infectious bacteria. Classes of antibiotics include penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and others. In each of these classes there are lots of different individual medications. (For example, cephalosporins include the drugs cephalexin, ceftriaxone, cefaclor, and others.) Some antibiotics are broad spectrum, which means they work on many different bacteria. Some are more narrow spectrum, used for specific bacteria.

Antibiotics only work for bacterial infections … not viral infections. They are ineffective at killing viruses. Viral infections include colds, flu, runny noses, most coughs and bronchitis, and sore throats unless they are caused by strep. Sexually transmitted viruses include human papillomavirus (HPV), herpes simplex virus, and HIV. Continue reading →

Throughout her quasi-retirement in Tucson, Margaret Sanger was still committed to the cause that propelled her into the national spotlight in the first place. In Tucson, she arranged to debate the Bishop of Arizona to address “the morality of birth control” – they spoke on different nights, however, since neither wanted to be on stage with the other.

William Mathews, editor of the Arizona Star, wrote: “Who do these women think they are to take on the Bishop of Arizona?” Apparently it was still the prevailing sentiment that a woman’s place was in the home, and despite all the socializing and entertaining Sanger did in her own life, she wasn’t shy about returning to the public sphere.

She wasn’t shy about defying authority either. One example of this facet of her personality was related by one of her biographers. Attempting to cross into the United States from Nogales, Mexico, the border inspector informed Sanger that she could not enter the country without having the required vaccination. Thinking this requirement unnecessary, she tried to refuse, but the inspector was insistent. She relented, and he administered the injection, but immediately after crossing the border, in full sight of the inspector, she sucked the vaccine from the injection site, grinning at him mischievously. Continue reading →

Tag Archives: Alexander Fleming

Get Smart About Antibiotics!

Margaret Sanger in Tucson: Still Going Headstrong