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The data of sexually transmitted urethritis in males have been collected at 24 institutes in Kyoto Prefecture since October, 2002. The data collected from January to December in 2004 are summarized herein. A total of 1,275 patients were diagnosed with urethritis during this period. Microbiological examinations isolated Neisseria gonorrhoeae alone in 368 (29%), Chlamydia tracomatis alone in 336 (26%), both in 85 (7%), and others in 453 (36%). Male patients under 20 years old tended to have Chlamydial urethritis, alone or combined with gonococcal infection, and had a predominant infectious source, a non-commercial-sexual-worker female partner, suggesting a profound problem in sexual life of adolescents. The urologist preferred to use quinolones as the first therapeutic modality against male urethritis. However, drug resistance of N. gonorrhoeae, especially against quinolones, has rapidly progressed, which was also observed by a sensitivity examination test. Antibiotics should be used adequately against male urethrits according to the recent guidelines.

We studied 181 patients diagnosed with male urethritis at Oogaki Municipal Hospital from April 2002 to March 2004. Twenty-two out of 92 patients diagnosed with gonococcal urethritis (GU) and 52 out of 89 patients diagnosed with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) were positive for Chlamidia trichomatis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Most patients of male urethritis were in their twenties. Of GU patients, 39 (67%) were infected from commercial sex workers (CSWs). Of NGU patients, 12 (30%) were infected from CSWs, 24 (40%) from girl friends and 4 (10%) from their Twenty-eight (48%) out of GU patients were infected through oral sex. spouse. Eighty-three GU patients were treated with SPCM (2 g, one shot). Fifty-five patients could be evaluated for the efficacy of treatment. Elimination rate of Neisseria gonorrhoeae was 100% and 14 out of 18 patients with persisting urethritis had C. trichomatis. Eighty-two NGU patients were treated with minocycline, tosufloxacin, levofloxacin, gatiflixacin or clarithromycine. Sixty-six patients could be evaluated for the efficacy of treatment. Forty-one patients were diagnosed with non-gonococcal chlamydial urethritis (NGCU) and 25 patients were diagnosed with non-gonococcal, non-chlamydial urethritis (NGNCU). The clinical curative rate of NGCU and NGNCU was 93% (38/41) and 80% (20/25), respectively.

Purpose: We reviewed the clinical data of male urethritis diagnosed as sexually transmitted disease with the aim of revealing its clinical features., Patients and Methods: In a total number of 414 males diagnosed as having acute urethritis transmitted by sexual activities between January and December in 2000, clinical data were collected and analyzed. In addition, questionnaire concerning the awareness of pharyngeal infection was obtained., Results: Their ages ranged from 16 to 60 years with a mean of 31 years. The source of infection was a commercial sexual worker (CSW) in 288 (69.6%) out of 414 cases. In 241 cases in whom an infection route was determined, 199 cases (82.6%) were considered to have an infection through oral sex. Microbiological examinations isolated Neisseria gonorrhea alone in 206 (49.8%), Chlamydia tracomatis alone in 47 (11.3%) and both in 46 (11.1%) cases. In our study, 57.5% and 20.8% of Neisseria gonorrhea strains were resistant to penicillin and new quinolones, respectively. Based on questionnaire, 174 (57.8%) out of 301 cases were not aware of possible infection from the pharynx through oral sex., Conclusion: The remarkable prevalence of gonococcal urethritis might be in part due to the lacking of awareness of infection through oral sex and sexual activities without a condom. Instruction on the prevention as well as the actual situation of urethritis is needed for general population with a broad age spectrum. The appropriate use of antimicrobial agents with sufficient susceptibility and less inductivity of drug-resistance is also of clinical importance.

In an attempt to investigate the influence of the AIDS campaign on the number of cases of STD in Japan, the case numbers of both gonococcal and chlamydial urethritis diagnosed in Japanese Red Cross Medical Center (JRMC) from 1980 to 1992 were surveyed. The case number of gonococcal urethritis (GU) in JRMC increased from 1980 to 1984 reaching a peak case number of 300% of 1980. Since 1984 the number of cases decreased until 1989 returning to the same case number of 1980. After a slight increase in 1990 and 1991 the case number decreased to 20% of the peak number of cases of 1984. The above trend in case numbers for GU in JRMC is similar to national statistics. The increase seen up to 1984 is thought to be similar to the increase recorded in the 1970's in developed countries. The decrease after 1984 is assumed to be due to the AIDS campaign. No remarkable change was observed in the case numbers for chlamydial urethritis (CTU) in JRMC in the same period. The results suggest that the AIDS campaign had less effect on the case numbers for CTU than that of GU, because the source of CTU infection is not limited to partners defined as hypothetically risky under the AIDS campaign. Though the sites and the route of infection are identical with gonococcal infection, the symptoms of CTU are much less fewer and less severer than that of GU, and chlamydia genital infection has already spread into every social class in Japan. The proportion of the GU that was due to gonococcal urethritis infection from the female pharynx to whole case number of gonococcal urethritis increased. This may reflect ignorance concerning the role of the pharynx as an infectious sources of gonococcal urethritis.

Epidemiological studies on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Saitama Prefecture, from 1989 through 1991, were performed and the following results were obtained. The number of patients was 1,833 (male: 1,532, female: 30) cases in 1989, 1,294 (male: 1,163, female: 131) cases in 1990, and 1,672 (male: 1,478, female: 149) cases in 1991. Male patients in their twenties or thirties were often affected by STDs. The order of frequency of STDs was roughly as follows; non-gonococcal and non-chlamydial urethritis, gonococcal urethritis, chlamydial rethritis, condyloma acuminatum, genital herpeic infection and syphilis. Concerning the criteria of the diagnosis on chlamydial urethritis, cases diagnosed by only clinical findings decreased markedly from 1989 through 1991, cases diagnosed by the combination of the antibody of C. trachomatis and clinical findings increased, and cases diagnosed by the detection of C. trachomatis were always about 70%. Male patients were mostly infected from prostitutes. Many patients with STDs were often infected in Taiwan, the Philippines, the Kingdom of Thailand and Republic of Korea.

Epidemiological and bacteriological studies on Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated in Sapporo, Japan, in 1980 and 1991 performed and the following results were obtained. 1. The range of age in the patients infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae tended to be younger than those in the whole country. 2. Male patients in the early 20s or younger with gonococcal urethritis were often infected by bon-professional females but those in their late 20s or older were often infected from professional females, for example prostitutes and hostesses. 3. The rate of professional females who were positive to gonococci reached 17.4% and young females in their teens with cervicitis had the highest morbidity rate of gonococci than those in the older females. 4. The latent period in gonococcal infections tended to become longer gradually. 5. The isolation rate of penicillinase producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) showed a peak of 23.9% (61/255) in 1985, but gradually declined thereafter and it was 3.7% (1/27) in 1991. 6. An investigation on auxotype showed a decline of proto and Pro-strains and an increase of AHU-strains in non-PPNG. And most of the PPNG belonged to proto or Pro-strains. 7. With the relationship between auxotype and sensitivity to AMPC, AHU-strains were more sensitive than proto or Pro-strains.

We reviewed 497 patients with male urethritis diagnosed between January, 1986 and March, 1989 at the Asama General Hospital. The incidence of gonococcal urethritis (GU) was 47.7%, and that of non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) 52.3%. There was no difference in the age distribution between GU and NGU. Prostitutes were the most common source of the infection in both GU and NGU. Incubation periods were longer in NGU than in GU, statistically. Urethral discharge was the most common symptom. Purulent urethral discharge was seen more commonly than serous urethral discharge in GU. On the contrary, serous urethral discharge was more common in NGU. Penicillin-resistant gonococcus comprised 29.4% and mixed infection of the C. trachomatis existed 25.6% in GU. C. trachomatis was detected in 71.8% in NGU. In GU, new quinolones and penicillins were administered frequently. The effective rates 1 week after the administration were 80.6% and 83.3%, respectively. In NGU, new quinolones and minocycline were administered frequently. The effective rates were 70.4% and 85.3%, respectively. Ofloxacin (OFLX) showed the highest effective rate to NGU among the four new quinolones. The relapse rate for the two-week administration group was lower than that for the one-week-administration group, but the difference was not statistically significant.

The detection of C. trachomatis antigen in first-voided urine sediments has recently been achieved by means of IDEIA CHLAMYDIA (IDEIA, Novo Nordisk), an EIA kit using monoclonal antibodies. Therefore, this kit was used as a screening test to examine the infection rate of C. trachomatis in young adult men without symptoms. The titers of serum IgA and IgG antibodies to C. trachomatis were also determined. 1. Antigen detection from first-voided urine sediments of young adult men without urogenital symptoms (141 cases): The detection rate by IDEIA was 5.0% (7/141). Three of the 7 cases which were positive for antigen in first-voided urine sediments were reaffirmed as having asymptomatic C. trachomatis urethritis, since they were also revealed to have C. trachomatis in the urethra. 2. The positive rates of serum antibodies: The titers of serum antibody were determined in 128 cases out of the 141 cases. The positive rates of IgA and IgG were 6.3% (8/128) and 35.9% (46/128) respectively. The positive rates of IgA and IgG antibodies were significantly higher in cases with positive antigen in first-voided urine sediments than in those which were negative. These results indicate that this kit is useful for antigen detection. 3. The screening test revealed asymptomatic C. trachomatis infections in 5% of young adult men, suggesting the extensive spread of the infection. The screening test using first-voided urine sediments will be useful in public health.

The efficacy of single administration of NY-198 in the treatment of gonococcal infections was studied employing male patients with gonorrheal urethritis and female patients with gonorrheal cervicitis. The clinical efficacy was evaluated on the basis of the efficacy rates which was estimated on each observation day for each patient. In the male patients, NY-198 was administered in a dose of 200 mg in 25 cases and a dose of 400 mg in 65 cases. The rate of eradication of N. gonorrhoeae (i.e. efficacy) on the 3rd day of administration was 96% in the 200 mg administration group and 100% in the 400 mg administration group. On the 7th day after administration, the eradication rate was 100% in both the 200 mg and 400 mg administration groups. When the eradication rate on the 7th day was statistically estimated for patients who returned to the hospital only on the 3rd day, it was 97.9% in the 200 mg administration group. In the female patients, NY-198 was administered in a dose of 200 mg to 4 cases and a dose of 400 mg to 5 cases. The eradication rate on each observation day was 100% in both dosage groups. In conclusion, single administration of NY-198 in a dose of 200 mg or 400 mg was highly effective, and considered to be a therapeutic method highly useful clinically.

Urethritis in males and cervicitis in females, which were sexually transmitted diseases, were treated with NY-198, a new quinolone antibiotic, and its efficacy was studied. Seventeen male patients with gonorrheal urethritis were administered a single 300 mg dose of NY-198. The efficacy rate on the 3rd day after administration was 100%, but it was 85.7% on the 7th day due to recurrence in 1 patient. The results of treatment of non-gonorrheal infections were as follow. In this treatment, NY-198 was administered in a daily dose of 600 mg in 3 divided doses for 14 consecutive days. In the treatment of chlamydial urethritis of males, the efficacy rate in 26 patients was 84.6% on the 7th day and 84.0% on the 14th day in 25 patients. In the treatment of chlamydial cervicitis, the efficacy rate was 100% on both the 7th (3/3) and 14th (6/6) days. In the treatment of non-gonorrheal and non-chlamydial cervicitis, the efficacy rate was 100% on the 7th day (1/1) and 50% (1/2) on 14th day. The efficacy rate in all 40 males with non-gonorrheal urethritis was 85.0% on the 7th day and 88.9% for 36 patients on the 14th day, while that in all 4 females with cervicitis was 100% on the 7th day and 87.5% on the 14th day. No side effects were seen in any of the patients. Overall, NY-198 had an efficacy rate of 80% in the treatment of chlamydial infections. NY-198 was found to be a useful drug which is efficacious in the treatment of all STD-related microbes such as gonococci and chlamydia.

We studied the epidemiology of 109 cases of gonococcal infections (105 males with urethritis and 4 females with cervicitis), together with the basic and clinical effects of cefetamet pivoxil in the cases. The peak of age distribution of the male patients was in the younger half of their twenties, and all of the 4 female cases were between 20 and 39 years old. The major source of infections in the males younger than 25 years old was their girl friends or so-called pick-up friends, and that of the males older than 25 years old workers serving at an amusement center, for example, bars and so-called special massage parlor, which accounted for about three fourths of the male cases between 35 and 44 years old. The distribution of the MIC (inoculum size; 10(6) CFU/ml) of Cefetamet against beta-lactamase non penicillinase producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (non-PPNG) ranged from 0.025 to 0.1 microgram/ml and that against beta-lactamase producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae ranged from 0.025 to 0.05 microgram/ml. The isolation rate of PPNG was 10.2% (9/88). In male patients with gonococcal urethritis, the efficacy rate was 100% on days 3 and 7 for 1,000 mg single dose and 7-day treatment and 500 mg single dose treatment. One of the cases treated with 250 mg single dose therapy was unchanged at 3, but the efficacy rate of the remaining cases was 100% at day 7. Complicated urethritis with C. trachomatis was noticed in 25.7% (5/105) of the male urethritis and in 25.0% (1/4) of the female cervicitis cases. The only side effect was diarrhea observed in 1 of the 124 case (0.8%).

Between January, 1984 and August 1986, we examined 151 male patients with urogenital infections including 114 cases of urethritis, 18 cases of epididymitis, 19 cases of prostatitis at the outpatient clinic of the department of urology, Toho University's Ohmori Hospital. The positive rate for Chlamydia trachomatis from the urethra based on cell cultures was 29.0%, (30.5% for urethritis, 27.8% for epididymitis, and 21.1% for prostatitis). The positive rate for non-gonorrheal urethritis was 33.0% and chlamydia infections were complicated by gonorrheal urethritis in 23.3% of the cases. The mean age of the patients with positive Chlamydia trachomatis was 31.9 years. The route of infection in 77.8% of the cases was sexual intercourse the most common cause of which was infection from a prostitute in 62.1% of the cases. The latent period was in most cases from 2-3 weeks.

From August of 1982 through February of 1983, the Sapporo Clinical Research Group for STD treated 131 cases of male gonorrheal urethritis at its affiliated clinical facilities in Sapporo City. The therapeutic efficacy of AT-2266 was investigated, together with an epidemiological study on the cases and bacteriological studies on the isolated strains of gonococcus. In addition, a few cases of female gonorrheal cervicitis were treated, and the therapeutic results for 3 of these cases evaluated. AT-2266 was administered at a daily dosage of 600 mg in one dose to 14 patients, 2 doses to 10 patients and 3 doses to 98 patients. At the end of 3 days of this therapy, the gonococci had been eliminated in all of the cases, but there was variation in the status of disappearance of the secretion. The "excellent" efficacy rates for these three regimens were thus 7.7%, 50% and 57%, respectively. These results showed that administration of the total dosage in two or more divided doses maintained higher minimum concentrations of the antibiotic in the blood and the urine, and were thus more clinically beneficial than when the dosage was given as one daily dose. Of the patients who were treated with 600 mg/day of AT-2266 in 3 divided doses, 93 were evaluated for the therapeutic efficacy. At the end of 3 days 57.0% were "excellent" cases, 39.8% were "good" cases and 3.2% were "fair" cases, and at the end of 7 days of therapy, 67 patients were 74.6% "excellent" cases, 23.9% were "good" cases and 1.5% were "fair" cases. The clinical efficacy rate was thus quite high. Those cases in which the secretion and leukocytes had not disappeared from the urine even at the end of the 7 days of therapy were probably cases of mixed infection involving Chlamydia, etc. Eight of the 77 gonococcal isolates (10.4%) were beta-lactamase producers. The MIC of AT-2266 hardly differed with the size of the bacterial inoculum. With an inoculum of 10(6)CFU/ml, the MIC distribution showed two peaks, i.e., at 0.05-0.2 micrograms/ml and 3.16-12.5 micrograms/ml. Only 11.7% of the strains were found to have high MICs. The distribution of these high MICs was found to be unrelated to the ability to produce beta-lactamase. Mild side effects of AT-2266 were seen in 2 out of 128 patients. (1.6%), an extremely low incidence.

Clinical observations were made on patients with urethritis, syphilis, chancroid, genital herpes and venereal warts for the last eight years at Gifu City Hospital. The patients with urethritis, genital herpes and venereal warts tended to increase yearly, and the number of the cases with urethritis increased about 2.5 times in the eight years. Slightly more patients had nongonococcal urethritis than gonococcal urethritis excluding 1981. Of the patients with gonococcal urethritis seen between 1977 and 1979, 58% were treated with benzylpenicillin intramuscularly, and 43% of the patients seen between 1980 and 1984 were treated with a concomitant therapy of spectinomycin intramuscularly and minocycline or doxycycline orally. The cure rate for each treatment was 94% and 97%, respectively. Of the patients with nongonococcal urethritis seen between 1980 and 1984, 89% were treated with minocycline or doxycycline orally, and the cure rate was 97%. On the other hand, the cure rate was 43% for the treatment between 1977 and 1979, only 10% of whom had received treatment with minocycline or doxycycline.

From January through March of 1985, the Sapporo Clinical Research Group for STD treated 69 cases of gonococcal infections (61 cases of male gonococcal urethritis and 8 cases of female gonococcal cervicitis) at its facilities in Sapporo City. The therapeutic efficacy of one shot therapy of Spectinomycin (SPCM) was investigated, and an epidemiological study on the cases and bacteriological studies on the isolated strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were made. The male patients were between 19 and 55 years old, with a peak age distribution in the younger half of the twenties. The female patients were between 18 and 40 years old. The major source of infections was a so-called special massage parlor which accounted for 36.1% of male cases. The isolation rate of PPNG were 16.7% (11/66). The MIC (inoculum size; 10(6) CFU/ml) of SPCM ranged from 3.13 to 25 micrograms/ml regardless of beta-lactamase production. In male patients, the eradication rate (efficacy rate) of N. gonorrhoeae by SPCM was 94.7% on the first day, 93.6% on the third day and 100% on the seventh day after 2 g one shot therapy. In female patients, the rate was 100% on the third and seventh day after 2 g one shot therapy, and 75% on the first day, 66.7% on third day and 100% on seventh day after 4 g one shot therapy. We considered that one shot therapy of SPCM was effective for gonococcal infection also in the present time. Especially SPCM was effective for infections by PPNG, since it was not resolved by beta-lactamase of N. gonorrhoeae. Positive rate of Chlamydia trachomatis was 16.3% in male gonococcal urethritis, and the serous discharge tended to remain longer in the positive patients than in the negative patients. There was only one side effect (1.4%), therefore SPCM was recognized to be a safely administrated antimicrobial agent.