Single-dose thiamphenicol for the treatment of gonorrhea.

Acute gonococcal urethritis was treated with a single oral dose of 2.5 g of thiamphenicol in 62 patients after diagnosis by gram-staining of urethral smears and/or cultures for Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Thayer-Martin medium. Therapy resulted in bacteriologic and clinical cure in 50 cases. Three cases were not cured by this treatment. Nine patients failed to return for follow-up examination. The only adverse reaction to treatment was diarrhea in one patient. The taste of the preparation of thiamphenicol administered was considered acceptable by most patients.