Norfloxacin versus thiamphenicol for treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea in Rwanda.

In an open prospective study, single oral doses of norfloxacin (800 mg) and thiamphenicol (2.5 g) were used to treat, respectively, 122 and 46 consecutive patients with uncomplicated gonorrhea. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was eradicated from 119 (97.5%) patients treated with norfloxacin and from 35 (76.0%) patients treated with thiamphenicol. Norfloxacin treatment failure was not related to drug resistance or to insufficient absorption of the drug. Thiamphenicol failure correlated with low in vitro susceptibility of the infecting strain. In a single oral dose of 800 mg, norfloxacin appeared to be an excellent alternative treatment regimen for uncomplicated gonorrhea in an area with a high prevalence of penicillin-resistant gonococci.