A rise in body temperature during sulphonamide treatment intensifies the biochemical reaction between drug and pathogen, while at the same time the heat itself injures the heat-sensitive gonococci.
We all remember how, at the beginning of the sulphonamide era, it was repeatedly observed that fresh cases of gonorrhoea in men responded best to sulphonamide treatment when suppuration had already occurred for several days, and not at the first appearance of the disease.