EFFECT OF PENICILLIN IN THE TREATMENT OF INFANTILE CONGENITAL SYPHILIS

Abstract

IN THE year that has elapsed since our preliminary note,¹122 additional cases of manifest congenital syphilis in children under 2 years of age have been treated by the university groups at New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Galveston. This brings the total number now suitable for analysis to 191. Among these are 84 Negro boys, 84 Negro girls, 10 white boys and 13 white girls. The mean age at start of treatment was 164 days, with range from 11 days to 23 months. Pretreatment studies have been adequate for all, and no therapy other than intramuscular injection of penicillin has been employed. Total dosages have ranged from 770 to 150,000 units per kilogram of body weight; the smaller of these represents the amount received by a moribund infant of 5 weeks who died during the first day of treatment. The smallest total dosage received by any infant who completed