PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

One dose of antibiotic treats early syphilis as well as three doses

NIH-funded clinical trial shows potential to simplify treatment for early syphilis

2025-09-03
(Press-News.org) EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025

5 p.m. Eastern Time

 

Media Contact:

NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison

301-496-5787

                      

One dose of antibiotic treats early syphilis as well as three doses

NIH-funded clinical trial shows potential to simplify treatment for early syphilis

 

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that a single injection of the antibiotic benzathine penicillin G (BPG) successfully treated early syphilis just as well as the three-injection regimen used by many clinicians in the United States and elsewhere. These findings from a late-stage clinical trial suggest the second and third doses of conventional BPG therapy do not provide a health benefit. The results were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

 

“Benzathine penicillin G is highly effective against syphilis, but the three-dose regimen can be burdensome and deter people from attending follow-up visits with their healthcare providers,” said Carolyn Deal, Ph.D., chief of the enteric and sexually transmitted infections branch of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). “The new findings offer welcome evidence for potentially simplifying treatment with an equally effective one-dose regimen, particularly while syphilis rates remain alarmingly high.”

 

Syphilis is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. The United States reported 209,253 total syphilis cases and 3,882 congenital syphilis cases in 2023, representing 61% and 108% increases over 2019 numbers, respectively. Without treatment, syphilis can result in neurological and organ damage as well as severe pregnancy complications and congenital abnormalities. Syphilis can also increase a person’s likelihood of acquiring or transmitting HIV.

 

BPG is one of the few antibiotics known to effectively treat syphilis, and stockouts are common worldwide. The antibiotic is currently being imported to the United States to resolve a nationwide shortage.

 

The study was conducted at ten U.S. sites and enrolled 249 participants with early syphilis, which encompasses the primary, secondary, and early latent stages of disease. Sixty-one percent of participants were living with HIV and 97% were men. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either a single intramuscular (IM) injection of BPG 2.4 million units (MU) or a series of three IM injections of BPG 2.4 MU at weekly intervals. All participants were monitored for safety. Biological markers of successful treatment in the blood—known as the serologic response to therapy—were examined at six months following treatment.

 

Seventy-six percent of participants in the single-dose group had a serologic response to treatment compared to 70% of participants in the three-dose group. The difference between groups was not statistically significant, even when participants were stratified by HIV status. One participant developed signs of neurosyphilis three days after starting BPG therapy and was excluded from the analysis. Three serious adverse events were reported but were not related to BPG.

 

“Syphilis has been studied and treated for more than a century, and BPG has been in use for more than 50 years, yet we are still acquiring knowledge to help us optimize treatment,” said Principal Investigator Edward W. Hook III, M.D., emeritus professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “We hope these promising results will be complemented by scientific advances in syphilis prevention and diagnosis.”

 

According to the study authors, the results from this trial provide substantial evidence that single-dose BPG 2.4 MU is as effective as three doses in treating early syphilis. More research is needed to understand the full potential of this abbreviated treatment strategy and to evaluate therapeutic approaches for all stages of syphilis, including late syphilis, latent syphilis of unknown duration, and clinical neurosyphilis.

 

The study was conducted through the NIAID-funded Sexually Transmitted Infections Clinical Trials Group.

 

For more information about this trial, please visit ClinicalTrials.gov using the study identifier  NCT03637660.

 

NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov/.

 

###

 

NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health®

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers identify single antibody behind life-threatening reaction to common blood thinner

2025-09-03
Hamilton, ON (Sept. 3, 2025) --- Researchers at McMaster University have discovered that a rare but dangerous reaction to a widely used blood thinner is caused by a single antibody – overturning decades of medical misunderstanding and opening the door to more precise ways of diagnosing and treating this medical complication. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sept. 3, 2025, focused on heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), a serious immune complication that affects approximately one per cent of hospitalized patients treated with the blood thinner heparin. Nearly half of those who develop HIT experience life-threatening blood clots, ...

Don’t sweat it: New device detects sweat biomarker at minimal perspiration rate

2025-09-03
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Available on-demand, in abundance and containing multiple biomarkers, sweat is an increasingly appealing medium for monitoring health, according to researchers at Penn State. But not everyone — especially critically ill patients — can build up enough sweat to provide a robust enough sample for current analysis techniques. That may no longer be an issue, thanks to the team at Penn State that has developed a novel wearable sensor capable of continuously monitoring low rates of perspiration for the presence of a lactate — a molecule ...

Not so sweet: Some sugar substitutes linked to faster cognitive decline

2025-09-03
Highlights: The study followed 12,772 adults with an average age of 52 Researchers tracked seven artificial sweeteners typically found in ultra-processed foods like flavored water, soda, energy drinks, yogurt and low-calorie desserts People who consumed the highest total amounts of these sweeteners had faster decline in overall thinking and memory skills compared to people who consumed the lowest amounts The faster decline equaled about 1.6 years of aging Researchers found a link in people under 60 but not older than 60 While the study found links, it does not ...

Antibody-making cells reveal new function in response to flu infection

2025-09-03
HERSHEY, Pa. — The body has an intricate system to defend against infections where each type of immune cell plays a distinct role. Now, a study led by researchers from the Penn State College of Medicine has uncovered a new function of the immune cells that are known for making antibodies. They determined that, in response to flu infection, a specialized set of B cells produce a key signaling molecule that the immune system needs to develop a robust, long-term response to fight off infections. It’s a function that has not previously been seen in these types of cells. The finding highlights a potential target for improving immunizations, ...

CCNY physicists make quantum emitter discovery in diamonds

2025-09-03
Researchers at The City College of New York have shown how a quantum emitter, the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, interacts in unexpected ways with a specially engineered photonic structure when moved around with a scanning tip. The study, led by Carlos A. Meriles, Martin and Michele Cohen Professor of Physics in the Division of Science and entitled “Emission of Nitrogen–Vacancy Centres in Diamond Shaped by Topological Photonic Waveguide Modes,” appears in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. What has long been considered a drawback of the ...

SwRI and Copeland win R&D 100 Award for innovative oil-free compressor

2025-09-03
SAN ANTONIO — September. 3, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) announced today that compressor technology co-developed with Copeland has won an R&D 100 Award. R&D World Magazine has recognized the “Copeland oil-free centrifugal compressor with Aero-lift™ bearing technology” as among the 100 most significant innovations for 2025. “We are all proud of being recognized with this 2025 R&D 100 Award,” said SwRI President and CEO Adam Hamilton, P.E. “SwRI is honored ...

Loneliness is bad for health and wealth in the U.K.

2025-09-03
In the U.K., 4 in 10 citizens identify as being lonely at least some of the time, and people who report being often lonely incur about £850 more in annual National Health Service costs than their non-lonely counterparts, according to a study published September 3, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Nia Morrish from the University of Exeter, U.K., and colleagues. The World Health Organization recognizes loneliness as a ‘priority public health problem.’ Research supports this claim, but the effect of loneliness on healthcare costs remains largely unknown. Morrish and colleagues analysed the Understanding Society U.K. Household Longitudinal ...

Oral health treatment in patients due for surgery is associated with significantly lower rates of postoperative pneumonia and shorter hospital stays, per observational study in one Japanese hospital,

2025-09-03
Oral health treatment in patients due for surgery is associated with significantly lower rates of postoperative pneumonia and shorter hospital stays, per observational study in one Japanese hospital, suggesting it might reduce infection risk Article URL: http://plos.io/3JzmJ5G Article title: Effect of planned preoperative oral care implemented at least 2 weeks before surgery on postoperative infections: A single-center retrospective observational study Author countries: Japan Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Oxygen came late to ocean depths during Paleozoic

2025-09-03
Thallium isotopes show O2 levels rose and fell at the ocean floor long after marine animals appeared and diversified half billion years ago, according to study of ancient marine sediments exposed by river cuts in Canada's Yukon END ...

Among women suffering hyperemesis (extreme nausea and vomiting) in pregnancy, half report considering terminating their pregnancy, and 9 in 10 have considered having no more children

2025-09-03
Among women suffering hyperemesis (extreme nausea and vomiting) in pregnancy, half report considering terminating their pregnancy, and 9 in 10 have considered having no more children, per Australian survey which also found that only half rated popular treatments as effective Article URL: http://plos.io/45zK0gd Article title: Assessing the burden of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy or hyperemesis gravidarum and the associated use and experiences of medication treatments: An Australian consumer survey Author countries: Australia Funding: This study was supported by a 2020 Engaging Opportunities research ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Crosswalk confusion: MA drivers flummoxed by pedestrian hybrid beacons, find UMass Amherst researchers

Study shows heart disease mortality disproportionately burdens low-income communities in California

Intracardiac echocardiography recognized as ‘transformative’ imaging modality in new SCAI position statement

Study finds ‘man’s best friend’ slows cellular aging in female veterans

To get representative health data, researchers hand out fitbits

Hiring in high-growth firms: new study explores the timing of organizational changes

Boosting work engagement through a simple smartphone diary

Climate change may create ‘ecological trap’ for species who can’t adapt

Scientists create ChatGPT-like AI model for neuroscience to build one of the most detailed mouse brain maps to date

AI and omics unlock personalized drugs and RNA therapies for heart disease

2023 ocean heatwave ‘unprecedented but not unexpected’

Johns Hopkins researchers develop AI to predict risk of US car crashes

New drug combination offers hope for men with advanced prostate cancer

New discovery finds gene converts insulin-producing cells into blood-sugar boosters

Powerful and precise multi-color lasers now fit on a single chip

Scientists agree chemicals can affect behavior, but industry workers more reluctant about safety testing

DNA nanospring measures cellular motor power

Elsevier Foundation and RIKEN launch “Envisioning Futures” report: paving the way for gender equity and women’s leadership in Japanese research

Researchers discover enlarged areas of the spinal cord in fish, previously found only in four-limbed vertebrates

Bipolar disorder heterogeneity decoded: transforming global psychiatric treatment approaches

Catching Alport syndrome through universal age-3 urine screening

Instructions help you remember something better than emotions or a good night’s sleep

Solar energy is now the world’s cheapest source of power, a Surrey study finds

Scientists reverse Alzheimer’s in mice using nanoparticles

‘Good’ gut bacteria boosts placenta for healthier pregnancy

USC team demonstrates first optical device based on “optical thermodynamics”

Microplastics found to change gut microbiome in first human-sample study

Artificially sweetened and sugary drinks are both associated with an increased risk of liver disease, study finds

Plastic in the soil, but not as we know it: Biodegradable microplastics rewire carbon storage in farm fields

Yeast proteins reveal the secrets of drought resistance

[Press-News.org] One dose of antibiotic treats early syphilis as well as three doses
NIH-funded clinical trial shows potential to simplify treatment for early syphilis