Effective Agent Against Chlamydia trachomatis In Vitro and In Vivo

There has been considerable controversy about the most effective treatment for trachoma (2, 4, 7, 9). One reason for this is that the various trials have been conducted by using different treatment regimens on different populations in different cultural and socioeconomic situations. The social culture of outback Australian aborigines and the environment in which they live are quite unlike those of other peoples in the world. In the population studied here, the point prevalence rates of trachoma were high (manuscript in preparation), and the standards of hygiene were low. It is not easy to conduct field trials in the remote areas of Australia in which aborigines live, and it is particularly difficult to get large numbers of patients in one place. Despite these problems, it was thought worthwhile to conduct a small field trial in conjunction with the Department of Health, Northern Territory to compare the effectiveness oftopical tetracycline with oral co-trimoxazde for treatment of trachoma among these people. Aboriginals at Libanangu (Wave Hill) were graded for trachoma according to World Health Organization criteria (16). Children with trachoma follicles were divided into three groups of 25, randomized by age, sex, and stage of trachoma. Treatment begun 2 months later was administered twice daily for 21 consecutive days by nursing sisters. The treatments used in the three groups of patients were (i) ocular oxytetracycline-hydrochloride (0.5%) ointment containing polymyxin B (10,000 U/g; 6 mm per eye); (ii) oral co-trimoxazole suspension, consisting of Septrin (Burroughs Wellcome Co.), trimethoprim, (40 mg/5 ml), and sulfamethoxazole, (200