title: Problems of venereal disease in Nigeria. 1. Gonococcal resistance to antibiotics and treatment of gonorrhoea.
abstract: Venereal disease is becoming an increasingly serious problem in developing countries. The availability of antibiotics in chemists' shops has encouraged self-medication with sub-therapeutic doses and inadequate treatment regimens. At a health centre in Nigeria, a diagnosis of gonococcal urethritis was made in 159 out of 429 men presenting with urethritis. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was cultured in 141 cases and the sensitivity pattern to a number of antibiotics freely available at chemists was determined. The organisms were highly resistant to penicillin (84%), ampicillin (80%), tetracycline (68%), streptomycin (78%) and co-trimoxazole (83%). These were the cheapest of the drugs available, leaving only erythromycin and the more expensive drugs gentamicin and cefotaxime still effective for general use in treatment programmes.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006069:Gonorrhea; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D014526:Urethritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents