The identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by sensitive, precise, and rapid technique is important for BLOCKINthe BLOCKINcorrect BLOCKINdiagnosis BLOCKINand BLOCKINappropriate BLOCKINtreatment BLOCKINof patients with gonorrhoea. For decades, the standard method of identification of the pathogen has been acid production from cystine tryptic agar (CTA) medium containing carbohydrates

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the etiological agent that causes the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea, is a significant public health concern due to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. We report the complete genome sequences of three reference isolates with varied antimicrobial susceptibility that will aid in elucidating the genetic mechanisms that confer resistance.

Clinical Features N. gonorrhoeae causes infection of mucosal membranes including the cervix, rectum, and throat. If untreated, gonorrhea remains a major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), tubal infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain. Epidemiologic studies provide strong evidence that gonococcal infections facilitate HIV transmission. Incidence Gonorrhea, caused by Neis...

GeneXpert CT/NG was evaluated with 372 characterized bacterial strains. Sensitivity of 10 genome copies/reaction was obtained for both agents. Four Neisseria mucosa and two Neisseria subflava isolates were positive for one of two gonococcal targets; however, the assay flagged all as negative. The assay was analytically highly sensitive and specific.

Serum agar sugars are variable in performance when used to identify the pathogenic Neisseria. In these circumstances, it has been common practice to rely on the Gram strain and oxidase reaction to confirm the clinical diagnosis. However, with reports of isolations of Neisseria gonorrhoea from nonurogenital sites and isolations of Neisseria meningitidis from cases of neonatal ophthalmia (Barr an...

The high sensitivity of nucleic acid amplification tests such as ligase chain reaction (LCR) has the potential to simplify specimen collection for the microbiologic diagnosis of gonorrhea. We screened first-void urine specimens from 283 women attending a Birmingham, Ala., sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic by using LCR and compared the results to those of cervical and urethral cultures f...

Gonorrhea (caused by infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae) is the second most commonly reported notifiable disease in the United States (1). Left untreated, gonorrhea is associated with serious long-term adverse health effects, including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. Infection also facilitates transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (2,3). Effective gonor...

Gonorrhea may become untreatable, and new treatment options are essential. Verified resistance to spectinomycin is exceedingly rare. However, we describe a high-level spectinomycin-resistant (MIC, >1,024 μg/ml) Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain from Norway with a novel resistance mechanism. The resistance determinant was a deletion of codon 27 (valine) and a K28E alteration in the ribosomal protein ...

In an open prospective study, single oral doses of norfloxacin (800 mg) and thiamphenicol (2.5 g) were used to treat, respectively, 122 and 46 consecutive patients with uncomplicated gonorrhea. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was eradicated from 119 (97.5%) patients treated with norfloxacin and from 35 (76.0%) patients treated with thiamphenicol. Norfloxacin treatment failure was not related to drug resi...