By Nana Afua Agyemang
Mensah-Bonsu
Antibiotics were discovered in a stroke of luck almost a century
ago like an answered prayer to the cries of mankind as lives were being lost to
and heavily affected by (treatable) infections.
Unbeknownst to man, the discovery of antibiotics brought in its
wake, poor antibiotic usage and practices which has led to Antimicrobial
Resistance, a public health and healthcare menace taking us back to square one.
The first true antibiotic known to man is Penicillin. This was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist who returned from a vacation to find green mold (Penicillium notatum) growing in one of his petri dishes which contained Staphylococcus, bacteria known to cause boils and sore throats, inhibiting the growth of the bacteria.
