1906 – 1919
- The origin of syphilis and the first case of syphilis in nearly unknown still to the science. Several guesses have been made about the origin and the most common ones are, that the first case of syphilis happened in France, Spain or in Italy in the year of 1493 or 1494. The second popular guess is, that syphilis has followed mankind through out its history, going under different names. But in the 13th century, changes in the sexual behaviour resulted an epidemic in Europe.
- The second school of opinions claims
strongly, that there was no syphilis in the old continent, but that the men of
Columbus brought the disease from the new world.
- In any case syphilis stayed to plague mankind and without a treatment all the way to the early part of the 20th century. A German man named Paul Ehrlich had worked through out the early years of 20th century, among anti-bacterial substances. He was looking for a substance that could destroy the harmful bacteria inside the body so, that it would not harm the person itself. The mercury which was used to cure syphilis, caused for patients such a horrific side-effects, that many patients chose to live with the syphilis, rather than try to cure it.
- In 1909 Paul Ehrlich had already tested
well over 900 different substance combinations, without a great success. His
colleague Sahachiro Hata however decided once more return to work with the
substance labeled as 606. While trying the substance number 606 once more, he
noticed that it was effective against the microbe of syphilis, which were just
recently recognized. Together Ehrlich and Hata tested this substance 606 over
and over again with mice, guinea pigs and with rabbits that had been infected
with syphilis. They managed to cure the animals in three weeks so, that not a
single one of the animals died to the treatment. In 1910 Salvarsan appeared to
the markets and it was an instant success all over the world. Salvasarsan, or
sometimes-just 606, helped also Germany to rise to the top of the pharmaceutical
industry and finally made the syphilis a disease that could be cured.
- The substance combination that Paul Ehrlich invented was an effective medicine against syphilis, but it didn’t help to fight against other diseases. However the work done by Ehrlich, laid a foundation for chemotherapy and inspired other researchers, the most famous one of them being most likely Sir Alexander Fleming.
Neosalvarsan 914
- Ehrlich continued to develop his Salvarsan after the year of 1910 and in 1912; the Neosalvarsan or sometimes-just 914 appeared to the markets. Even as Neosalvarsan was not as effective as Salvarsan, it was much more easier to handle it and that way, much easier to produce. Additionally the substance combination of 914 was a bit more soluble and this way easier to give to the patients. Salvarsan and Neosalvarsan stayed effective treatment for syphilis all the way to the 1940’s, when antibiotics was invented.
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