Magic bullet: Paul Ehrlich, Salvarsan and the birth of venereology

In the years following its discovery, Salvarsan would have impacts far beyond that of syphilis treatment alone. Salvarsan's expansion would eventually reshape the broader landscape of venereal disease service delivery in the UK. In August 1913, Paul Ehrlich presented at the International Medical Congress in London,1 where he dazzled the medical community with his new cure.2 Prompted by the novelty of Ehrlich's magic bullet, Parliament passed a resolution enacting a new Royal Commission on Venereal Diseases charged with directing venereal disease (VD) policy in the UK. The new commissioners stated that ‘there are good grounds for concluding that eradication of the spirochaete with complete cure, or a total absence of subsequent …