Ampicillin-Probenecid Treatment of Gonorrhea

To the Editor.— In connection with the continuing search for an efficient and safe treatment for gonorrhea (Neumann and Baecker, Treatment of Gonorrhea, 219 :471-474,1972), I wish to report briefly on our experience with single dose, combined, oral ampicillin administration and probenecid in the therapy of uncomplicated gonococcal infection. The use of this treatment schedule has previously been reported by Holmes and associates for both male 1 and female 2 patients, but in both series the probenecid was administered one hour prior to ampicillin, in a well defined, limited population. In a crowded public clinic the one-hour wait is undesirable; but the high success rate and lack of side effects are advantageous. We are using ampicillin, 3.5 gm, and probenecid, 1 gm, administered orally together to treat both male and female gonorrhea patients. In the series reported here, diagnosis was established by gram-stained smears or cultures in males and by