Contacts with no clinical signs of syphilis and with a negative blood test were given a single curative dose of benzathine penicillin as a prophylactic. A noteworthy feature of this outbreak was the active cooperation during its course of fifteen physicians and of the twenty six patients they reported.

Another blitz was reported more recently from Alabama by W. H. Y. Smith and J. J. Hill. The rising prevalence of syphilis was beginning to get the state VD people badly scared when more cases of primary and secondary syphilis were reported in 1965 than in any of the preceding sixteen years. The "epidemic" described occurred in Talladega County, beginning in September, 1967, and reached a peak early in 1968. It involved 92 persons with infectious syphilis, an additional 801 known or suspected contacts who were given prophylactic treatment with penicillin, and 239 others examined but not treated, making a total of 1040 persons examined out of 1283 who had been named. This outbreak began with a woman twenty nine years old who infected a man of thirty six who, in turn, infected eight females. The authors find it “interesting to note that a 15 year old female with secondaries infected an 11 year old male with a primary. He in turn infected the 15 year old's sister who was nine years of age. This nine year old child infected an eight year old male and in addition named a total of 19 contacts. It is also interesting that the 15 year old girl named 43 contacts.”

The report contains no information on the skin color or economic status of the people involved in this outbreak. But the following note, which follows the brief description of the outbreak and concludes the report, is worth giving in full:

“Controlling syphilis in the free populations is much more difficult than in the confined captive group. In a southern prison of 1,076 prisoners there were found 66 primaries, 14 secondaries, and two each early latents. These named 209 contacts and all cases and contacts were given 2.4 million units of penicillin. In addition all the other prisoners were given 2.4 million units of penicillin and each new inmate was given 2.4 million units of penicillin. As a result not a single case of syphilis has occurred in this prison since June 1965.” (see AFTER PENICILLIN: FAILURE PART IV)