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September 29, 2005
Pills may successfully treat syphilis

Although an injection with the antibiotic penicillin is the preferred method of treating the sexually transmitted disease syphilis, a single oral dose of the antibiotic azithromycin may be just as effective in curing the disease, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine. A study of syphilis patients in Tanzania showed that the cure rate for those treated with a single shot of penicillin was 95%, and was 98% in those receiving the oral antibiotic.

Although penicillin is likely to remain the standard of treatment in the United States and other Western nations, azithromycin could be a useful alternative for patients allergic to penicillin and for use in developing countries where there is often a shortage of sterile needles and trained health care workers to administer injections.

Azithromycin treatment for syphilis is currently being studied in four U.S. cities and in Madagascar. (Advocate.com)