Treatment of gonococcal conjunctivitis with single-dose intramuscular ceftriaxone

We treated 13 consecutive patients with culture proven Neisseria gonorrhoeae conjunctivitis with single-dose intramuscular injections of ceftriaxone. Pretreatment conjunctival cultures and Gram stains were obtained from all patients. The patients were admitted for antibiotic administration, a single conjunctival saline lavage, and follow-up conjunctival cultures six and 12 hours after treatment. Three of 13 organisms (23%) were penicillinase producing. All patients responded to treatment, and all six- and 12-hour posttreatment cultures were negative for N. gonorrhoeae. These results indicate that a single intramuscular dose of ceftriaxone is curative treatment for non-neonatal gonococcal conjunctivitis.