Protection of a Military Population From Rheumatic Fever

Abstract

Types of prophylaxis programs employing benzathine penicillin G for the control of streptococcal disease among Navy recruits ranged from mass injections of penicillin in an attempt to interrupt epidemics to the year-around administration of a single injection to new recruits coming to Great Lakes, Ill, in an effort to prevent epidemics. The latter proved to be the most feasible program for the streptococcal disease situation at Great Lakes. Most programs were over 90% effective. Untoward reactions to benzathine penicillin G occurred in less than 1% of the recruits and were of the serum-sickness type. No anaphylactic deaths were observed among the 315,000 men receiving the drug prophylactically over a nine-year period.