National gonorrhea therapy monitoring study: adverse drug reactions

The Center for Disease Control and cooperating clinics monitored adverse drug reactions in 6,969 patients who were treated for suspected uncomplicated gonorrhea with one of the four 1972 United States Public Health Service (USPHS) recommended regimens and returned for reexamination. Of those patients receiving the aqueous procaine penicillin G (APPG)-probenecid regimen, 2.0% had at least one adverse reaction and 0.18% experienced procaine reactions. No life-threatening reactions occurred. The overall reaction rates for the ampicillin-probenecid, tetracycline and spectinomycin regimens were 0.62%, 5.9%, and 0.61%, respectively. Our findings document the relative safety of the USPHS recommended regimens.