Resistant gonorrhea
Penicillinase-producing isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae have been recovered from 12 patients in the United States since last February. They were found in California, Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Virginia, and New York. Patients remained symptomatic after the usual treatment with aqueous procaine penicillin G, and required followup therapy with intramuscular spectinomycin.Ralph H. Henderson, MD, director of the venereal disease control division of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, said that there is some "circumstantial evidence" linking these cases to travel in Southeast Asia or the Philippines. No cases are known to have been found outside the United States, but CDC is investigating.Dr Henderson said that CDC has made no changes in its recommendations for the routine treatment of gonorrhea, but he advised that patients be reexamined from 4 to 14 days after treatment to document a cure. The previous CDC recommendation had been followup examination