Medicines and private life in first half of the twentieth century: treating infection before and after penicillin

Abstract

Private and daily life is deeply associated with medicaments. Public and private health issues intersect within the medical subject of infectious disease. In order to resolve these issues social initiatives or medical treatments can be used. The first two parts of this article will evaluate the drugs used to fight infectious diseases related with private life and the way in which these drugs, especially mercurial and arsenical compounds, were regarded. This study is based upon renowned hygiene and medicament therapy studies from the early twentieth century, such as: Licções de Pharmacologia e Therapeutica Geraes written by E. Motta, Bases de Terapêutica Medicamentosa, written by P. Trendelenburg, Manual de Hygiene, written by A. J. Lopes, Livro de Higiene written by A. Lessa and Como é a vida e como se defende written by F. Mira. The third part of the article will focus upon the introduction of penicillin into therapy between 1944 and 1945, based on Portuguese scientific literature. We will analyze the main advantages and innovations this drug brought to the treatment of infectious diseases and the implications it had in private life.