Sulfadiazine, Packet, Wound Tablets, The Upjohn Company

Genuine WWII US packet of sulfadiazine Tablets, Wound Tablets.  As used by the US Army Medical Department and medics of WWII.

In 1942, in addition to their 5 grams of Crystalline Sulfanilamide, individual troops were also issued with 8 Tablets of Sulfadiazine (packed separately, and not included in the metal or plastic individual first aid packet). When wounded, unless in the abdomen or throat, troops were instructed to take 4 grams of Sulfadiazine orally, which amounted to 8 Tablets, with a large amount of water.

Sulfadiazine is a sulfonamide antibiotic. It eliminates bacteria that cause infections by stopping the production of folic acid inside the bacterial cell, and is commonly used to treat urinary tract infections. This drug was one of the least toxic ones, and indeed the most useful of all Sulfonamides.