Doctors Ration Penicillin to Curb Syphillis Pandemic

Doctors have been forced to ration penicillin after an alarming Syphilis epidemic swept across the US. Cases of syphilis have shot from 6,862 to 203,500 in 2022 which is more than 2,000 percent. The situation became worse last spring by a penicillin shortage which is the first line of treatment for the sexually transmitted disease.

Penicillin shortage which is still ongoing has become terrible such that public health agencies have advised that suppliers ration the drug and only procure it for pregnant mothers since it’s the only treatment they can have. The rationing happens amid a wide drug shortage in America with several children being hospitalized with flu owing to lockdowns that made them susceptible because of weakened immune systems.

Penicillin drug treats infections that are caused by bacteria like gonorrhoea, Syphilis, pneumonia and meningitis. In 2021, there were 46.4 million prescriptions of penicillin in the US translating to 127,123 cases per day.

Rationing Penicillin could leave thousands of people without treatment for meningitis, throat infections and other bacterial infections. Drugs used to treat the STD include doxycycline ( an oral drug) and injectable penicillin. The World Health Organization advises pregnant women not to take doxycycline since it can lead to teeth and bone deformities in babies.

Mark Turrentine an OB-GYN based in Houston shared with KFF Health News that he sought advisories about penicillin shortage in April that coincided with amoxicillin that’s hard to come across. He asserted that doctors were using penicillin as a substitute which could have contributed to the shortage of penicillin.

In 2022, a high rise in respiratory diseases prompted drugstore chains to limit the purchase of fever-reducing medicine for children a thing that led to amoxicillin shortage- a modified antibiotic that’s chemically modified in tablet form.

Some experts have pointed to a drop of about 30%  in condom use among American men since 2011 according to reports. The CDC has asked doctors to be careful and ask pregnant women about Syphilis in order to curb the crisis.

The health agency provided recommendations for testing Syphilis for instance serologic testing that checks for the presence of some antibodies in the blood.

The manufacturer of Bicillin, a long-acting form of penicillin antibiotic significant increases in demand due to the rise in infection rates owing to a shortage of the drug in June.

The associate chief pharmacy officer for the University of Utah Health system shared with KFF that in as much as penicillin is not a new drug, it’s a complex drug to make since many individuals are allergic to the drug. Each penicillin shot costs hundreds of dollars. The drug also has to be stored in the cold and expires after four years; 48 months.

Syphilis is spread through contact with sores that appear around the mouth or pubic area. Symptoms of the STD appear within a month of infection and are often not noticed. They can be dismissed as mild abrasions or heat rash.