日本性感染症学会誌 Journal of Japanese Society for Sexually Transmitted Infections

Since the intramuscular injection of benzathine penicillin G, a standard treatment worldwide, is prohibited in Japan, penicillin oral therapy is generally used. However, the data reporting its effectiveness is insufficient, and the actual situation of syphilis treatment is undetermined. Therefore, to establish facts regarding the same, a questionnaire survey was conducted and answered by members of the Japanese Society of Sexually Transmitted Infections. According to the results, more than 90% of the patients were provided with treatment as per their guidelines in 2016. However, the combination of probenecid and 3,000 mg amoxicillin was observed to differ from the standard guidelines. In addition, more than 80% of the patients did not experience treatment failure. The most common reason of treatment failure was that the patients did not take the medicine as prescribed. Since the adherence to oral treatment was found to be problem, nearly 90% of the questionnaire respondents were in favor of the intramuscular injection therapy.