Treatment for Early Syphilis and Reactivity of Serologic Tests

The Venereal Disease Branch, Center for Disease Control, in a cooperative study has reevaluated the comparative efficacy of antibiotic schedules for the treatment of early syphilis in 586 patients. All parenteral penicillin, tetracycline, and erythromycin treatment schedules recommended by the Public Health Service were studied. Erythromycin in base form, 20 gm, was given in a divided-dose schedule over a ten-day period. Subsequently, the dose of erythromycin had to be raised to 30 gm because of a high failure rate. All penicillin schedules tested showed a satisfactory cure rate with a cumulative re-treatment rate of only 10% in the 24-month observation period. The 30-gm schedule of erythromycin base proved as effective as tetracycline and penicillin G.