Question

Penicillin is a/an:
A.Hormone
B.Antibiotic
C.Antipyretic
D.Vitamin

Answer 1

We have to remember that the penicillin were first discovered in Penicillium moulds, mostly P. chrysogenum and P. rubens. The majority of penicillins used in medicine are artificially synthesised from naturally occurring penicillins. While several natural penicillins have been discovered, only two purified compounds are currently used in clinical practise: penicillin G (for intravenous use) and penicillin V (for oral use) (given by mouth). Penicillins were among the first to be successful against a wide range of staphylococcal and streptococcal infections.

Complete answer:
In $1928$, Alexander Fleming $\left( {1881-1955} \right)$ discovered modern-day penicillin, whose widespread use proved to be extremely valuable during World War II. Penicillins were among the first antibiotics to be successful against a wide range of staphylococcal and streptococcal infections. They belong to the class of antibiotics known as β-lactams, which are among the most effective and influential discoveries of modern medicine. They are still commonly used today to treat a variety of bacterial infections, though many bacteria have gained resistance as a result of their widespread use.
Since Penicillin fights against a wide range of staphylococcal and streptococcal infections which are bacterial infections, hence penicillin is an antibiotic.
Therefore the correct option is option B.
Hormones are chemical messengers of the body and do not fight against bacterial infections.
Therefore option A is incorrect.
An antipyretic is a medication that lowers the body's temperature. The hypothalamus is able to override a prostaglandin-induced rise in temperature by using antipyretics.
Therefore option C is incorrect.
A vitamin is an organic molecule that is an important micronutrient that an organism requires in limited amounts for its metabolism to work properly.

Therefore option D is incorrect.

Note:
In $1928$, Scottish chemist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin as a rudimentary extract of Penicillium rubens. In $1930$, Cecil George Paine, a pupil of Fleming's, was the first to successfully use penicillin to cure an eye infection (ophthalmia neonatorum). A research team led by Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain at the University of Oxford isolated the refined compound (penicillin F) in $1940$. In $1942$, Fleming used purified penicillin to cure streptococcal meningitis for the first time. Fleming, Florey, and Chain shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in $1945$ for the discovery.