Treatment of early latent syphilis of less than a year's duration: an evaluation of 275 cases.

The author's recommended treatment for early latent syphilis of less than a year's duration is im administration of benzathine penicillin G, 2.4 million units weekly for two consecutive weeks. Patients allergic to penicillin are given tetracycline, 500 mg orally four times daily for 12 days (total dose, 24 g). Two hundred seventy-five patients who had early latent syphilis of less than a year's duration were treated with these regimens; of these, 252 were given benzathine penicillin G, and 23 received tetracycline. All but two of the patients became seronegative within four years.