Impact of a gonorrhea control program, including selective mass treatment, in female sex workers.

A gonorrhea control program initiated in 1967 in registered female sex workers (FSWs) in the Philippines involved weekly endocervical cultures for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, with treatment of FSWs found infected or named as contacts by US Navy servicemen. Gonorrhea prevalence in FSWs in Olongapo city fell from 11.9% to 4.0% within 4 months, and gonorrhea incidence in servicemen at nearby Subic Bay fell by half. Selective mass treatment (SMT) with oral ampicillin-probenecid or tetracycline was then given to registered FSWs in an attempt to further reduce gonorrhea rates. N. gonorrhoeae was isolated from 105 (4.0%) of 2640 FSWs before SMT and from 43 (1.6%) 1 week later (P < .001). However, gonorrhea incidence among servicemen fell no lower, and gonorrhea prevalence in FSWs quickly returned to higher levels. Thus, after implementation of weekly screening and treatment of FSWs found infected or named as contacts, SMT of FSWs (without increasing condom use or treating regular partners) contributed nothing further to gonorrhea control.

[1]  G. Henderson,et al.  Successful eradication of sexually transmitted diseases in the People's Republic of China: implications for the 21st century. , 1996, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[2]  Peter Piot,et al.  Human immunodeficiency virus infection and other sexually transmitted diseases in developing countries: public health importance and priorities for resource allocation. , 1996, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[3]  K. Tomecki.  Impact of improved treatment of sexually transmitted diseases on HIV infection in rural Tanzania: randomised controlled trial: Grosskurth J, Mosha F, Todd J, et al. Lancet 1995;346:530–536 , 1996 .

[4]  J. Todd,et al.  Impact of improved treatment of sexually transmitted diseases on HIV infection in rural Tanzania: randomised controlled trial , 1995, The Lancet.

[5]  K. Holmes,et al.  A New Deal in HIV Prevention: Lessons from the Global Approach , 1994, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[6]  P. Piot,et al.  Clinical algorithms for the screening of women for gonococcal and chlamydial infection: evaluation of pregnant women and prostitutes in Zaire. , 1993, Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

[7]  P. Perine,et al.  Impact of the control of endemic treponemal diseases in Ghana on other diseases. , 1985, Reviews of Infectious Diseases.

[8]  J. Yorke,et al.  Gonorrhea Transmission Dynamics and Control , 1984 .

[9]  C. Goh,et al.  Chemoprophylaxis and gonococcal infections in prostitutes. , 1984, International journal of epidemiology.

[10]  H. Jaffe,et al.  Selective mass treatment in a venereal disease control program. , 1979, American journal of public health.

[11]  K. Holmes,et al.  A trial of minocycline given after exposure to prevent gonorrhea. , 1979, The New England journal of medicine.

[12]  K. Holmes,et al.  Cohort study of venereal disease. I: the risk of gonorrhea transmission from infected women to men. , 1978, American journal of epidemiology.

[13]  E. Barrett-Connor.  The prophylaxis of gonorrhea. , 1975, The American journal of the medical sciences.

[14]  K. Holmes,et al.  Single doses of methacycline and doxycycline for gonorrhea: a cooperative study of the frequency and cause of treatment failure. , 1973, The Journal of infectious diseases.

[15]  G. A. Olsen.  Consumption of antibiotics in Greenland, 1964-70. IV. Changes in the sensitivity of N. gonorrhoeae to antibiotics. , 1973, The British journal of venereal diseases.

[16]  T. Guthe,et al.  Evaluation of a previous mass campaign against endemic syphilis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. , 1973, The British journal of venereal diseases.

[17]  G. A. Olsen.  Consumption of antibiotics in Greenland, 1964-70. 3. Effect of coincidental administration of antibiotics on gonorrhoeal infections. , 1973, The British journal of venereal diseases.

[18]  K. Holmes,et al.  Single oral dose ampicillin-probenecid treatment of gnorrhea in the male. , 1971, JAMA.

[19]  K. Holmes,et al.  Single-dose antibiotic treatment of asymptomatic gonorrhea in hospitalized women. , 1970, The New England journal of medicine.

[20]  K. Holmes,et al.  An evaluation of gonorrhea case findings in the chronically infected female. , 1969, American journal of epidemiology.

[21]  G. Lomholt,et al.  Gonorrhoea treated by a combination of probenecid and sodium penicillin G. , 1969, The British journal of venereal diseases.

[22]  O. Idsøe,et al.  The rise and fall of the treponematoses. II. Endemic treponematoses of childhood. , 1968, The British journal of venereal diseases.

[23]  K. Holmes,et al.  Studies of venereal disease. I. Probenecid-procaine penicillin G combination and tetracycline hydrochloride in the treatment of "penicillin-resistant" gonorrhea in men. , 1967, JAMA.

[24]  J. Martin,et al.  Primary isolation of N. gonorrhoeae with a new commercial medium. , 1967, Public health reports.

[25]  G. Lomholt,et al.  Gonorrhoea situation in South Greenland in the summer of 1964. , 1966, The British journal of venereal diseases.

[26]  Lucas Jb,et al.  COMPARATIVE ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE FROM 1955 TO 1964. , 1964 .

[27]  P. Krag,et al.  Mass Treatment of Treponemal Diseases, With Particular Reference to Syphilis and Yaws* , 1953, British medical journal.

[28]  E. Grin.  Endemic syphilis in Bosnia; clinical and epidemiological observations on a successful mass-treatment campaign. , 1952, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.