Editing Cocoanut Grove fire (section)

====Antibiotics====
At MGH, intravenous [[sulfadiazine]] (a drug which had only been approved for use in the U.S. in 1941<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200117203243/https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=reportsSearch.process&rptName=2&reportSelectMonth=8&reportSelectYear=1941&nav FDA Approvals August 1941]</ref>) was given to all patients as part of their initial treatment. At BCH, 76 patients received [[Sulfonamide (medicine)|sulfonamides]] for an average of 11 days.<ref>Finland M, Davidson DS, Levenson SM. "Chemotherapy and control of infection among victims of the Cocoanut Grove disaster." ''Surg Gynecol Obstet'' 1946; 82: 151-73.</ref> Thirteen survivors of the fire were also among the first humans to be treated with [[penicillin]].<ref name = "Lee"/><ref name = "Lyons"/> In early December [[Merck & Co.|Merck and Company]] rushed a 32-liter supply of the drug in the form of culture liquid in which the ''[[Penicillium]]'' mold had been grown, from [[Rahway, New Jersey]], to Boston. These patients received 5,000&nbsp;[[International units|IU]] (roughly 2.99&nbsp;mg) every four hours, a small dose by today's standards, but at the time [[Antimicrobial resistance|antibiotic resistance]] was rare, and most strains of ''[[Staphylococcus aureus]]'' were penicillin-sensitive.<ref name="Levy">Stuart B. Levy, ''The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers,'' Da Capo Press, 2002: pp. 5-7. {{ISBN|0-7382-0440-4}}</ref> The drug was crucial in preventing infections in [[skin graft]]s. According to the ''[[British Medical Journal]]'':

<blockquote>Though bacteriological studies showed that most of the burns were infected, the [[second-degree burns]] healed without clinical evidence of infection and with minimal scarring. The deep burns remained unusually free of invasive infection.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1944-03-25 |title=Lessons from the Boston Fire |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=1 |issue=4342 |pages=427–428 |issn=0007-1447 |pmc=2283836 |pmid=20785349}}</ref></blockquote>

As a result of the success of penicillin in preventing infections, the U.S. government decided to support the production and the distribution of penicillin to the armed forces.<ref name = "Levy"/>