Introductory address: gonorrhea today

The counterattack to the resurgence of one of the commonest infectious diseases, gonorrhea, still consists of epidemiologic measures, correct clinical and microbiological diagnosis, and effective treatment. Few antibiotics effective against Neisseria gonorrhoeae fulfill the criteria of the World Health Organization (i.e., the antibiotic should be effective, safe, free from side effects, capable of aborting simultaneously acquired or coexisting infection with Treponema pallidum or Chlamydia trachomatis, should entail a low incidence of postgonococcal urethritis, and should not be the sole antibiotic used for other, more serious conditions). Therefore, current attention is focused on the use of thiamphenicol for the treatment of uncomplicated urogenital, rectal, and oropharyngeal gonorrhea caused by both beta-lactamase-producing and non-beta-lactamase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae.