Tetracyclines in the Treatment of Chronic Trachoma in American Indians

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Abstract
A trial for treatment of chronic trachoma was carried out in 1968–1969 at boarding schools for American Indians. Tetracycline (0.75 g) or a placebo was administered orally twice daily for 21 days. Clinical assessment of ocular signs revealed significant suppression of signs of trachomatous activity for at least four months after treatment. In 1969–1970 a therapeutic trial compared tetracycline given in two oral doses of 1.5 g daily, with a single dose of 0.1 g of doxycycline given daily for 28 days. The levels of drug in the blood were less with doxycycline than with tetracycline, but the two regimens were indistinguishable in their suppression of signs of disease during a five-month follow-up. None of the therapeutic regimens had a significant effect on the incidence of chlamydiae in conjunctival scrapings examined by immunofluorescence, which suggests that chlamydia! infection was not eradicated. Likewise the therapeutic regimens did not significantly influence the bacterial flora of the conjunctiva, except for the suppression of Moraxella sp. Potential bacterial pathogens were cultured more frequently from the eyes of girls than from boys, but they were not associated with either clinical activity of trachoma or with purulent conjunctivitis.

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