Health and Medicine

These two specimens of penicillin were preserved in the 1940s by Professor Howard Florey,  the Australian scientist who led the international project that extracted and stabilised penicillin and proved its efficacy in fighting infection; a scientific advancement which has gone on to save countless lives. The search for new ways to fight increasingly resistant bacteria continues today. 

The syringe has been in use in medical practice since the 1st century. However, the invention of the hypodermic needle - a hollow needle - by Irishman  Francis Rynd allowed the application of medicines subcutaneously and intravenously, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of drugs. This example is from the 1920s, when hypodermics were reused many times. In 1949 Australian inventor Charles Rothauser created the world's first plastic, disposable hypodermic syringe, which has become the international standard type used. The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences has examples of these also in the collection. 

Antibiotics cannot treat the influenza virus. Often when people say they have the 'flu', what they actually have is an upper respiratory bacterial infection. Influenza, a viral infection, is much more serious. Zanamivir, an Australian innovation in medicine, was the first of a new class of drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors. These drugs are a first line of defence against all strains of influenza virus. Once a new virus emerges it takes about six months to develop a vaccine, so neuraminidase inhibitors can slow the spread of infection and reduce morbidity and mortality in the early stages of an epidemic.