Ceftriaxone in the treatment of ordinary and penicillinase-producing strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Abstract

Ceftriaxone, a third generation cephalosporin, was used in a single intramuscular dose with oral probenecid to treat 124 men with infections due to non-penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (non-PPNG) and 64 men with infections due to PPNG. Three different doses of ceftriaxone were used--125 mg, 62.5 mg, ad 32.5 mg, and 32.5. The cure rate for all PPNG infections with the different doses was 100%. The cure rate for the non-PPNG infections with ceftriaxone 125 mg was 100%; those for non-PPNG infections treated with ceftriaxone 62.5 mg and 32.5 mg were 96.2% and 97.3% respectively. The 160 strains of non-PPNG and 60 strains of PPNG isolated were all susceptible to ceftriaxone with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 0.008 microgram/ml. These results are compared with those using kanamycin 2 g. Ceftriaxone is a safe and effective treatment for PPNG and non-PPNG infections.