MASS ORAL PENICILLIN PROPHYLAXIS IN CONTROL OF STREPTOCOCCAL DISEASE

Abstract

IN A RECENT publication¹ Wannamaker and his colleagues demonstrated that the incidence of Group A Streptococcus carriers and disease rates could be lowered significantly by the mass oral administration of penicillin in two daily doses of 500,000 or 1,000,000 units each, provided that such treatment was maintained for 10 days. When the penicillin was administered for shorter periods of time or when single daily doses of 250,000 units were used, the resultant prophylactic effect was inadequate. The observations which form the basis for this report describe two separate field trials which were conducted among Air Force recruits at Sampson Air Force Base at a time when there existed hyperendemic conditions of streptococcal disease. These trials are part of a larger project² conducted under the auspices of the Department of Preventive Medicine of the Air Force and The School of Aviation Medicine, but they are being reported separately at