International Journal of STD & AIDS > Volume 19, Number 4 > Pp. 217-221

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bai, Z.-G. Articles by Gai, Q.-Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Review

Azithromycin vs. benzathine penicillin G for early syphilis: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Zheng-Gang Bai MSc ^*, Ke-Hu Yang MSc ^* , Ya-Li Liu MSc ^*, Jin-Hui Tian MSc ^*, Bin Ma MSc ^*, Deng-Hai Mi MD , Lei Jiang MSc , Ji-Ying Tan MD ^*  and Qiong-Yan Gai MB 

^* Evidence-Based Medicine Centre of LanZhou University; Second People's Hospital of GanSu Province; School of Basic Medical Sciences of LanZhou University; Second Hospital of LanZhou University, LanZhou, Peoples Republic of China

Correspondence to: Professor Ke-Hu Yang, LanZhou University No. 199, Donggang Road, LanZhou 730000, Peoples Republic of China Email: yangkh{at}lzu.edu.cn

The World Health Organization estimates that at least 12 million people are infected with syphilis in the world. Southeast Asia accounts for 5.8 million; Africa accounts for 3.5 million. There has been controversy in using the two kinds of antibiotics for early syphilis. A systematic review comparing these antibiotics could affect treatment guidelines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of azithromycin vs. penicillin G benzathine for early syphilis and a meta-analysis to compare these two kinds of antibiotics for early syphilis. Four randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria; 476 patients were evaluated for their cure rate. Cure rates were 95.0% (227/239) for azithromycin and 84.0% (199/237) for penicillin G benzathine. After pooling the data, the difference in efficacy was computed. Cure rate (OR = 1.37), 95% CI (1.05, 1.77) and the risk difference for cure rate between the two drugs were statistically significant. Although the gastrointestinal adverse effect of azithromycin is five times more than the adverse effect of penicillin G benzathine, the differences are not significant. Azithromycin achieved a higher cure rate than penicillin G benzathine in a long follow-up.

Key Words: azithromycin • penicillin G benzathine • syphilis • randomized clinical trial • meta-analysis

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?