Syphilis Emergency Looms in the US as Drugs Run Low
Syphilis Emergency Looms in the US as Drugs Run Low
A shortage of penicillin to treat a skyrocketing number of syphilis cases is so dire that US health officials are debating the need to declare a public health emergency, according to people familiar with the matter.
Fun fact: syphilis was the treatment target for the first modern synthetic medicine - arsphenamine discovered in 1909. This arsenic-containing molecule was much "safer" and more effective at treatment than previous Victorian-era "panacea" medicine the mercury-containing mineral calomel. The success of the arsphenamine "magic bullet" opened the door for the entire past century of intentional drug design, discovery, and testing. Antimicrobial arsenic compounds were supplanted with penicillin during 1940s WWII.