Treatment of penicillin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae with oral norfloxacin.

Norfloxacin, an orally administered quinoline carboxylic acid that is structurally related to nalidixic acid, has been shown to be highly active in vitro against penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Ninety-two men with culture-proved gonococcal urethritis, 46 per cent with penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae, and 27 per cent with non-penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae that was resistant to penicillin were given either 1200 mg of norfloxacin divided into two equal oral doses four hours apart (59 patients) or 2 g of spectinomycin intramuscularly (33 patients). All patients in both treatment groups were cured. No adverse reactions were reported in either group. We conclude that a two-dose, single-day regimen of orally administered norfloxacin is effective therapy for uncomplicated urethritis caused by penicillin-resistant strains of N. gonorrhoeae.