Treatment of gonorrhea with thiamphenicol

For many years thiamphenicol has been the drug of choice for the treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea at the Center for Venereal Disease of the University of Milan. During the last four years, 1,110 of 1,112 cases of uncomplicated gonorrhea treated with 500 mg of oral thiamphenicol three times a day for six days have been cured. Recently, the effectiveness of single-dose treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea with this drug was evaluated. A dose of 2.5 g of thiamphenicol was given orally to 159 patients. The diagnosis of gonococcal infection was based on culture results in all cases. In 77 cases red and white blood cell counts and hemoglobin and serum iron determinations were made before and one week after therapy. Clinical and bacteriologic cure was achieved in 144 (90.6%) of the 159 patients. The only adverse reactions to the drug were transient diarrhea in ten patients, epigastric pain in two, and vomiting in one. No statistically significant variations were detected in blood tests.