Single-Dose Treatment of Gonorrhea With Selected Antibiotic Agents

Abstract
Single-dose, injectable antigonorrheal agents were evaluated at Navy facilities in the Pacific region. One hundred and one of 103 patients receiving 2.4 million units of procaine penicillin G with orally administered probenecid, and 105 of 106 patients receiving 2 gm of ampicillin sodium with orally administered probenecid were cured of infection. Ninety-seven cures resulted from 105 patients treated with 2 gm of kanamycin sulfate, and 81 cures from 97 patients treated with 2 gm of cephaloridine. Eighty percent of the gonococcal strains from the Philippines and Japan were insensitive to procaine penicillin G (0.1μg/ml). Serum levels of the drugs one hour following injection ranged from 1.5μg to 24μg per milliliter for penicillin and 10.8μg to 70.0μg per milliliter for ampicillin. With the increasing numbers of penicillin-insensitive gonococci, ampicillin may become the drug of choice for gonorrhea.