gonorrhoea was diagnosed in 512 female patients who were treated at the Second Dermatological Clinic of the University of Vienna; 410 were prostitutes admitted to the hospital and 102 women received out-patient treatment.Initial diagnosis was based on smears, but always confirmed by culture.To minimize the number of therapeutic failures and elucidate their cause, the following routine procedures were also carried out:(1) Determination of the penicillin sensitivity of the gonococcal strains.
TherapyFour groups of these female patients were treated with four different schedules: (1) 300 patients were given two intramuscular injections each of 2 m.u. procaine penicillin G at an interval of 24 hrs.(2) 62 patients were given two intramuscular injections each of 3 6 m.u. sodium penicillin G plus 400,000 i.u. procaine penicillin G, at an interval of 24 hrs.(3) Fifty patients were given a single intramuscular injection of 2 g. cephaloridine.(4) 100 patients were given two oral doses of 300 mg. doxycycline with an interval of 8 hrs.
MALESDuring the same period 421 men suffering from gonorrhoea without complications were treated with the first schedule.
FindingsAll patients, both inpatients and outpatients, were examined at least once after treatment, and routine cultures were made.The sensitivities of the strains of gonococci isolated ranged between 0 0039 and 2 i.u. penicillin per ml. (Fig. 1). The strains cultured from the prostitutes were just as sensitive as those from the outpatients. In all strains the penicillin sensitivity was such that treatment consisting of two injections of 2 m.u. procaine penicillin G, administered at an interval of 24 hrs, ought to have been sufficient to effect a cure (Fig. 1, and Fig. 2, overleaf).