Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Biology

Reader 1

Pete Chandrangsu

Reader 2

Lars Schmitz

Rights Information

2022 Bianca I Torres-amlin

Abstract

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum transmitted by direct contact with infectious lesions during sexual intercourse. Despite the near eradication of syphilis three decades ago, infections have reemerged at alarming rates globally. These rises contribute to a concerning increase in congenitalinfections, with 350,000 adverse pregnancy outcomes in 2012 alone. Currently, penicillin G benzathine (PGB) serves as an efficient and reliable treatment for syphilis, but for pregnant people, there exists no alternative, raising concerns for populations with low supply or for those with allergies. Doxycycline is an antibiotic that’s been identified as a reliable alternative to PGB. It is a derivative of tetracycline, which has been associated with increased adverse outcomes in pregnancy andis thus labeled a class D drug by the FDA. A recent case study indicates doxycycline does not predict the same adverse outcomes in pregnant people. This paper proposes the use of doxycycline as an alternative to PGB due to its cost effectiveness, bioavailability, and convenience of administration. Researchers hypothesize that doxycycline will be as efficient as PGB in eradicating early syphilis in patients, making this treatment a viable alternative to PGB for pregnant people.The proposed trial will contain two groups,with one receiving 2.4MU of PGB intramuscularly and one assigned an oral administration of 100mg doxycycline twice daily for 14 days. Anticipated results from this experiment indicate no significant difference in the serological response between each treatment group. Kaplan-Meier tests indicate there is no significant difference between the time of the serological response between the treatment groups. Further surveillance of infants should be implemented to confirm doxycycline as a sufficient treatment ineliminating congenital syphilis.

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