Supply of benzathine penicillin G: the 20-year experience in Australia.

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1 © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia Benzathine benzylpenicillin G (BPG) is a beta-lactamase antibiotic developed in 1951.1 Administered intramuscularly, BPG has low in vivo solubility, producing prolonged serum penicillin concentrations. This makes BPG suitable for treating penicillin-sensitive organisms responsive to extended, low serum penicillin concentration. In Australia, BPG licence indications include mild-moderate group A streptococcal (GAS) infections (pharyngitis) and treponemal infections (syphilis, yaws, bejel and pinta).2 BPG is also indicated for people with a history of acute rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) as secondary prophylaxis against GAS infections that can precipitate a recurrence of RF. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers BPG an essential medicine.3