Single dose ciprofloxacin for treating gonococcal infections in men

A single oral dose of ciprofloxacin 500 mg was used to treat five men with gonococcal urethritis and five men with gonococcal proctitis, and all were cured. In a subsequent study the dose of ciprofloxacin was reduced to 250 mg, and 54 men with 57 gonococcal infections (47 urethral, seven rectal, and three pharyngeal) were treated; of the isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, four were penicillinase producing strains. All the patients were cured of gonococcal infection. Urethral specimens from nine of the men with gonococcal urethritis yielded Chlamydia trachomatis before treatment. These organisms were isolated again from all these patients seven days after treatment, and from a further seven men who had been chlamydia negative before treatment. It is concluded that a single oral dose of ciprofloxacin is an effective treatment for uncomplicated gonorrhoea, but is ineffective against C trachomatis. Of the 54 men given 250 mg ciprofloxacin, six (11%) showed minor abnormalities of liver function tests after treatment.