The treatment of donovanosis (granuloma inguinale)

Over a two-year period, 37 patients with genital ulcer disease attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases in Harare were found to have donovanosis. Of the 37 patients, 25 were male, and 12 were female; all presented with painless, indurated, granulating ulcers without lymph-node involvement. The lesions were more extensive in pregnant women. All patients responded well to either a combination of intramuscular streptomycin plus oral tetracycline given over 14 days, or a 14-day course of oral co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole). No metastatic lesions were found.