Studies of Venereal Disease

Abstract

Treatment of gonorrhea in men with a single intramuscular dose of 2,400,000 units of procaine penicillin G, recommended by the US Public Health Service and the armed forces in 1965, continues to result in 20% to 30% treatment failures among military personnel in the Far East. In studies of confined populations aboard air-craft carriers, 63 men with gonorrhea received 2,400,000 units of procaine penicillin G with 18 (29%) treatment failures; 58 men received 2,400,000 units procaine penicillin G<i>plus probenecid</i>orally, with only one failure. Resistance to 0.06 units of penicillin per milliliter of medium was noted in 26 of 41 (63%) and 57 of 74 (77%)<i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i>isolates from the respective groups. Thirty men received tetracycline hydrochloride orally, with no failures. In areas where treatment of gonorrhea with large parenteral doses of penicillin G is becoming less effective, adequate therapy is possible with probenecid plus penicillin or with tetracycline.