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Background: Antibiotic resistance has begun to impair the ability to cure Helicobacter pylori infection., Aim: To evaluate furazolidone as a component of combination therapies for treatment of H. pylori infection in the United States., Methods: Patients with active H. pylori infection received furazolidone combination therapy for 14 days (furazolidone 100 mg and tetracycline 500 mg t.d.s.; omeprazole 20 mg o.d. in the morning and, depending on the pre-treatment antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, 500 mg of metronidazole or clarithromycin t.d.s.)., Results: A total of 27 patients received the metronidazole containing combination (cure rate 100%) and seven received the clarithromycin combination (cure rate 86%). Overall the cure rates for intention-to-treat was 97% (95% CI: 85% to 100%). The single failure took the clarithromycin containing combination for only 2 days (per protocol cure rate = 100%). Side-effects were common and led to discontinuation of therapy in 26% of patients. An attempt to eliminate metronidazole and clarithromycin and use furazolidone, tetracycline, and lansoprazole b.d. produced an unsatisfactory cure rate of 72%., Conclusion: Furazolidone combination therapy appears to be effective. Additional studies with different antimicrobial combinations and duration of therapy are warranted.

During the Vietnam War, US military working dogs served with their companion dog handlers in close proximity, sharing common exposures to war-related activity, many zoonotic infectious agents, chemical pesticides, phenoxy herbicides, and extensive use of therapeutic drugs. To gain insight into the effects of the Vietnam experience, we investigated the occurrence of neoplasms in military working dogs based on standard necropsy examination by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. We observed that these dogs experienced significant elevated risks for testicular seminoma and, independently, testicular dysfunction. Experimental evidence shows testicular dysfunction and impaired spermatogenesis in laboratory animals exposed to phenoxy herbicides, dioxin, or tetracycline, and antibiotic used extensively in military working dogs in Vietnam. Because an unexplained significant decrease in sperm quality in Vietnam veterans has been observed by the Centers for Disease Control, further research is warranted if we are to clarify military service in Vietnam as a risk factor for testicular dysfunction. The testis should be made a priority site in the study of Vietnam experience-related cancers.

The Center for Disease Control and cooperating clinics monitored adverse drug reactions in 6,969 patients who were treated for suspected uncomplicated gonorrhea with one of the four 1972 United States Public Health Service (USPHS) recommended regimens and returned for reexamination. Of those patients receiving the aqueous procaine penicillin G (APPG)-probenecid regimen, 2.0% had at least one adverse reaction and 0.18% experienced procaine reactions. No life-threatening reactions occurred. The overall reaction rates for the ampicillin-probenecid, tetracycline and spectinomycin regimens were 0.62%, 5.9%, and 0.61%, respectively. Our findings document the relative safety of the USPHS recommended regimens.