Single-Dose Antibiotic Treatment of Asymptomatic Gonorrhea in Hospitalized Women

Abstract

Single-dose treatment of asymptomatic gonorrhea was studied in 396 Filipino women hospitalized to prevent reinfections. Endocervical cultures were obtained for six days after treatment to detect failures. Failure rates of 13 to 44 per cent were seen with varying doses of a parenteral penicillin G preparation given without probenecid. No failures occurred in 80 patients given 6,000,000 units of parenteral penicillin G with probenecid, or in 108 patients given 3.5 g of ampicillin orally with or without probenecid. These two regimens with probenecid and another with tetracycline were then compared in a prospective program of treatment. After one year, resistance of isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to penicillin and ampicillin was unchanged, but over one third of isolates became resistant to 2 μg per milliliter of tetracycline. The use of penicillin G or of ampicillin, in association with probenecid, is recommended for treatment of women who are infected but have neither acute perineal discomfort nor the complications of pelvic inflammatory disease.