Study on the role of sulphamethoxypyridazine (oral) in trachoma control.

Introduction TRACHOMA has a world-wide distribution. It has been estimated that over 400 million people throughout the world are infected with trachoma. Trachoma and associated infections present a major public health problem in India, particularly in the northern and north-western states. Its effects frequently create serious economic problems; not infrequently it produces total blindness. Despite the fact that the infection can be controlled and cured with various remedies, studies are still being conducted in various parts of the world to determine the most economical and effective remedy for mass control of the infection. Among the several anti-infective agents used in trachoma are the tetracyclines and sulphonamides. The usual sulphonamides, however, have the disadvantage of having to be given several times a day, making mass treatment and observation very difficult, as doses are often not taken. To overcome this difficulty, the longacting sulphonamides were used in the treatment of trachoma. One of these longacting sulphonamides, sulphamethoxypyridazine (Lederkyn-Lederle), has been used with encouraging results. Several studies confirm the efficacy of sulphamethoxypyridazine in trachoma. These studies have been made with both the oral and oral or parenteral forms of sulphamethoxypyridazine. In these studies two different schedules of oral dosage are used. Bietti (1963), who used the intermittent method as the method of choice in mass treatment campaigns, obtained a cure rate of 70 per cent. with doses of 80 mg. per kg. body-weight every 7 or every 10 days. The second study, by Mitsui, Konishi, Kinouchi, and Miki (1964), was a more or less continuous method of administering one 0 5 g. tablet of sulphamethoxypyridazine daily, regardless of the patient's weight, during four 10-day courses, each of the four courses being separated from the other by an interval of 5 days, during which no treatment was given (total of 40 tablets). Using this method, Mitsui and others (1964) obtained a 70 per cent. cure rate. Mann (1960) has also studied the effect of sulphamethoxypyridazine on trachoma. The results of these investigators prompted us to study the effects of sulphamethoxypyridazine given orally in trachoma. The special feature of this long-