Single dose oral azithromycin versus seven day doxycycline in the treatment of non-gonococcal mucopurulent endocervicitis.

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.

The aim of this study was to compare single dose oral azithromycin versus seven-day doxycycline in the treatment of non-gonococcal mucopurulent cervicitis (MPC). One hundred and thirty-one women with non-gonococcal MPC were enrolled in a prospective-randomised study to compare the efficacy and safety of a single oral dose of 1 g azithromycin and a seven-day course of 100 mg doxycycline twice daily. Clinical examination and culture samples for Chlamydia trachomatis and other microorganisms were performed before and approximately 14 days after starting the treatment. Of the 131 women recruited (67 in the azithromycin group and 64 in the doxycycline group), Ureaplasma urealyticum was isolated from 21 (16%); Chlamydia trachomatis from 15 (11.5%); and Mycoplasma hominis from 3 (2.3%) of the patients at the initial examination. The eradication rate of baseline culture-positive cases at the follow-up visit in the azithromycin group was 71.4%, and 77.3% in the doxycycline group. There was no statistically significant difference in efficacy between the single dose azithromycin and seven-day course of doxycycline in the treatment of culture-positive cases. Azithromycin 1 g appears to be an effective and safe alternative to doxycycline for the treatment of non-gonococcal MPC.

PMID: 10870778 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]