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The
Bayer company (makers of Bayer Aspirin and Aleve) produces Ciprofloxacin (Cipro®).
Its discovery stemmed from researchers in the 1960s looking for an alternative
treatment to malaria.
Malaria:
A unicellular parasite, spread by mosquitoes that transmit it to people. There are four different malaria species, the two most common are Plasmodium falciparum, found most commonly in Africa, it is the most aggressive, and often kills through coma or anemia. Plasmodium vivax, which occurs in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Eastern Europe, this can cause recurring infection, but rarely death. The symptoms of Malaria are fever, followed by chills a few hours later. This repeats two to four days later. Depending on how serious the infection is malaria can affect the brain and kidneys, and cause death in just 24 hours. Anemia is one of the main problems. Anemia is an oxygen deficiency in the blood that causes a person to have very little energy and fatigue. As a result of these effects, on average, every time a person has malaria they will have to miss about two weeks of work. Malaria kills an estimated 2.7 million people every year. It is a major concern in over 90 countries with over 2,400 million people (40% of the world’s population). Each year, nearly 10% of the world’s populations will suffer from malaria. Children are especially vulnerable. In Africa, one out of twenty children are killed by malaria before the age of five.
Every thirty seconds a child somewhere will die of malaria.
A new treatment for this malaria problem was needed. Specifically, an alternative to CHLOROQUINE, that would be more effective. Drug resistance is a growing problem. Chloroquine is a very safe and cheap drug, but in areas such as Asia, Africa, and South America resistance levels are becoming high, because the drug is used so often. To combat this problem NALIDIXIC ACID was developed, the first member of the fluoroquinolone family.
Fluoroquinolone- “A new class of antibiotics with a wide range of activity. They are well absorbed orally, with good tissue penetration and relatively long duration of effect. These agents bind to DNA and impair its replication.” – Cancer WEB’s Online Medical Dictionary
To
improve the NALIDIXIC ACID
antibiotic’s susceptibility, other structures were added onto it and Cipro was
ultimately created. Today, Cipro is a highly
effective drug that is used to treat many diseases. Most recently, it has been a
subject of debate over its use (and perhaps abuse) in the treatment and
prevention of anthrax.