AZITROMICINA VERSUS DOXICICLINA NELLE URETRITI MASCHILI DA CHLAMYDIA TRACHOMATIS

The efficacy of a short-term therapy with azithromycin in the treatment of urethral Chlamydia trachomatis infections in males was compared to that of a standard seven-days course of treatment with doxycycline. Urethral samples from 60 male patients reacted positively in a DNA-probe method for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis. Thirty of the 60 patients were treated with azithromycin for two days in a dosage of 1 g the first day and 0.5 g the second day, and thirty with doxycyclin in a dosage of 200 mg daily for seven days. Twenty-seven patients treated with azithromycin and 18 patients treated with doxycycline returned to follow-up, which was performed one week arter the end of the therapy. The control urethral samples were negative, with the exception of one from a patient in the azithromycin group. However, a second control after one week gave negative results. We found no differences between the two treatment groups with respect to the clinical and laboratoristic parameters and conclude that both treatments are equally efficacious. However, it should be also stressed that due to a frequent lack of patient compliance a short-term therapy with azithromycin is much more reliable than a course of several days with doxycycline.