History of the RCH: The Antibiotics Revolution at the R.C.H. (1944-50)
On 12 March 1944, 8 year old Allan Goates arrived at the RCH Casualty dying from osteomyelitis with septicemia. Medical journals had started reporting about a new wonder drug, penicillin. Medical Superintendent Elizabeth Turner asked her registrar Dr. Graeme Anderson to accompany her by taxi to the 4th American Army General Hospital (located at the Royal Melbourne Hospital at that time), to try to obtain some of this new drug.
Elizabeth recalls:- 'It was about 9:30 at night and we asked to see the C.O. I told him about the boy and asked for penicillin. "Yes, ma'am. How much would you like?" Having no idea what penicillin looked like, I plucked up courage and said, "One million units," and I was pleased to note that he did not turn a hair, but brought me five large, blue glass vials containing a golden powder. When I asked "How much?" he said, "Same to you as it is to us, ma'am. Nothing." But later I had to appear before the committee of management as the American Army has sent them a large account.' Allan was treated at three hourly intervals through the night and the next morning they were amazed that he looked so good and was afebrile. Within 36 hours there was not a trace left of Staphylococcus-aureus in his blood.
Serious supply problems getting penicillin continued into the late 1940's so it was reserved for only the most critical cases, but its impact was still immediate and dramatic. The number of children that died in the hospital dropped from 359 in 1942/3 to 290 in 1943/44, then 211 in 1944/45, this despite the steady increase in the total number of patients.
But the dreadfully crippling disease, Tuberculosis remained impervious to penicillin, but research and development of antibiotics continued. In July 1947, a young girl, Leona Moules was first to be treated at the RCH with streptomycin and 8 months later she was able to walk unaided. In September 1950, the first 40 patients treated at the RCH with Streptomycin, were reviewed. The results showed that Streptomycin was far from a certain cure, but it showed that Tuberculosis need no longer be considered fatal. This disease was finally corralled by compulsory public chest x-rays in the 1950s and 60s (our senior members will remember being taken in pajamas down to the x-ray truck in the main street of town) and BCG vaccination.
The 1950s and 60s saw a wide array of antibiotics become available. In 1955, dermatologist Dr Arthur Day first reported use of Cortisone to treat eczema.