Gerhard Domagk: Sulphonamide drugs

Domagk was a chemist who was inspired by the achievements of Paul Ehrlich's team. He set out to find dyes that would destroy other infectious microbes within the body. Domagk was very thorough in his work and in 1932 discovered that a dye called prontosil would act against he streptococcus virus. This discovery was then developed by French scientists who found that the drug could also be used against tonsillitis, puerperal fever and scarlet fever. May and baker, British scientists, discovered that a derivative of the sulphonamide drug could be used against pneumonia.

There were though several disadvantages to this drug. Sulphonamide drugs can damage the kidney, liver and are ineffective against highly virulent microbes.

The fight against infectious disease: pages within this unit

What is an Infectious Disease? A Glossary of Infectious Diseases, Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Vaccination, The Development of Drugs, Paul Ehrlich, Gerhard Domagk, Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, The importance of Penicillin, Factors affecting the development of drugs and treatments.

Activities within the Unit

Glossary vocabulary test	This activity checks your knowledge of infectious disease
Drag and Drop game	Do you know who developed each form of medicine?
Breakthrough against Infectious Disease	Use the information in this unit to answer a detailed question, then see how it compares with a suggested response. Ideal revision tool.

Recommended textbooks and revision guides

Textbooks	Revision Guides

In this unit:

Recommended Resources

Medicinethroughtime.co.uk - new site. Including Blog and use of twitter for free text / IM revision tips.

SchoolsHistory.org.uk highly recommends these sites:

Schoolhistory.co.uk - fantastic range of interactive games, revision materials and links.
ActiveHistory.co.uk - outstanding use of ICT to engage pupils.
Thinkinghistory.co.uk - a brilliant range of learning activities from Ian Dawson
JohnDClare.net - simply the best for Modern World GCSE students
History.org.uk - resources and CPD materials from the Historical Association.
Historyboxes.com - make your lessons 'real' with artefacts and living history provided by experts
Schoolshistory.com - same author as this site, just put together in a slightly different way!