In search of an ideal single-session penicillin schedule for the treatment of gonorrhoea in Uganda.

Abstract

To determine the most effective, economical therapy for gonorrhea in Uganda, 5 single-session penicillin schedules were compared in a group of 460 university students with urethral discharge. A total of 590 episodes of gonococcal urethritis were treated. Patients were randomly allocated to 1 of 5 schedules. Treatment schedules and cure rates were as follows: 1) aqueous procaine penicillin 2.4 m.u. (125 cases), 90.3%; 2) procaine penicillin 2.4 m.u. plus ampicillin 1 gm (143 cases), 97.1%; 3) procaine penicillin 3 m.u. (90 cases), 89.8%; 4) procaine penicillin 3 m.u. plus probenecid 1 gm (103 cases), 97.1%; and 5) probenecid 1 gm orally followed by benzyl penicillin 5 m.u. (129 cases), 96.8%. 30 of the 31 treatment failures were successfully treated with an alternate schedule. The results obtained with procaine penicillin alone are considered unfavorable. Although highly effective, the probenecid and benzyl penicillin regimen is expensive and requires the preparation of penicillin with lignocaine solution and an extra 30-minute wait, making it inappropriate for Uganda's busy multipurpose clinics. The procaine-ampicillin combination was also highly effective, but its high cost limits it use to private practice. The 3rd highly effective schedule, the combination of procaine penicillin and probenecid, appears to most closely approximate the ideal single-session penicillin schedule for treatment of gonorrhea in Uganda. It is both inexpensive and easily administered. Moreover, the prolonged penicillinemia achieved by 3 m.u. procaine penicillin may be more effective in eliminating cases of incubating syphilis than benzyl penicillin. Long-acting procaine penicillin in oil with aluminum monostearate (PAM), which is the most widely used treatment regimen in the rural medical units of Uganda, is no longer indicated and may, in fact, be encouraging the spread of less sensitive strains of gonorrhea. Any change toward a more effective treatment schedule must, however, be accompanied by improvement in the diagnostic and treatment facilities in the country.