Single-dose ceftriaxone therapy of gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum

Ceftriaxone (125 mg) given as a single intramuscular dose without topical therapy was evaluated in seven infants with smear-positive gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated from the eyes of six infants, and four of these isolates were penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae. Two infants had concomitant ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis. All seven infants, when seen at follow-up, showed marked clinical improvement. Conjunctivitis resolved completely in four infants. One infant was lost to subsequent follow-up, while two infants had persistent ophthalmia due to C. trachomatis. Follow-up eye cultures for N. gonorrhoeae were all negative.