Colebrook, Leonard

Persuasive proof of sulfanilamide s true antibacterial prowess came from Leonard Colebrook and his team of researchers in the maternity ward of Queen Charlotte s Hospital in London (7, 8, 9). Managing to obtain samples of Prontosil late in 1935, Colebrook quickly demonstrated the drug s remarkable effectiveness in curbing puerperal fever. The utility was soon expanded to other severe streptococcal infections. 

A few isolated clinical trials of the drug took place in Germany during the period 1933-1935, and Domagk wrote a number of reports about his discoveries but the first serious clinical trial was carried out in 1936 at Queen Charlotte s Maternity Hospital in London. Here, Leonard Colebrook was trying to reduce still further the number of deaths from puerperal fever (which then stood at 2-3 per 1000 deliveries). Initially, he treated 38 women who were very seriously ill with streptococcal infections and saved the lives of all but three of them. Normally, at least 25% of these patients would have died. His Lancet paper generated considerable interest, as did a subsequent trial with a further 26 women, all of whom were saved. 

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