In October 1948, Eagle1 reported the results of a study conducted in a Naval activity which showed that 100,000 to 250,000 units of penicillin by mouth, taken after exposure to venereal disease, would reduce the incidence of gonorrhea by 85 per cent or more. Following the publication of this report came strong pressure for general adoption of this measure. A second study conducted in the Navy2 indicated that the prophylactic effect of orally administered penicillin on gonorrhea diminished fairly rapidly with the increase of time between exposure and ingestion of the penicillin. After an elapsed time averaging fifteen hours between exposure and prophylaxis, the efficacy of the measure apparently dropped to less than 50 per cent.
The Navy does not contemplate general adoption of this prophylactic measure against venereal disease. First, the method will presumably not protect against chancroid, lymphogranuloma venereum or granuloma inguinale, diseases which are of