Skip to main content
I read with interest the study by Hao et al. looking at the treatment regimens used for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia infections in the primary care setting. I share their concern about the low rates of use of the most effective antibiotics for infections with these pathogens (i.e. doxycycline for Chlamydia and ceftriaxone for Gonorrhea).
However, I have a methodological concern. The study includes patients from 2018-2022, and evaluates the appropriateness of treatment against the CDC's 2021 STI treatment guidelines. The prior CDC guidelines from 2015 recommends either azithromycin or doxycycline monotherapy as appropriate treatment for Chlamydia infections. Based on the data in this study, the vast majority of those treated for Chlamydia without Gonorrhea co-infection (96.7%) received therapy that was in accordance with the 2015 CDC guidelines.