1. Home>
2. Specialties>
3. General Medicine>
4. Summary and Comment

ONE FIFTH OF N. GONORRHOEAE IS ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT.

Although the overall incidence of gonorrhea has been declining, organisms resistant to traditional antibiotic therapy are causing a rising percentage of infections. The extent of the increase in resistance is documented by the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project, which evaluated antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from 21 geographic sites in 1987-1988.

Of 6204 isolates, 21 percent demonstrated resistance to penicillin, tetracycline, cefoxitin, or spectinomycin. Seventeen percent showed chromosomally mediated resistance, which is more difficult to establish with routine laboratory techniques than plasmid-mediated resistance. Patient behavioral or demographic characteristics were not useful in predicting whether isolates would display resistance. All isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone.

These data demonstrate that antibiotic resistance has become common in N. gonorrhoeae. An editorial by Handsfield recommends that all patients with gonorrhea be treated with regimens that are active against the most resistant N. gonorrhoeae strains.

— THL

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine October 2, 1990

Citation(s):

Handsfield HH. Old enemies: combating syphilis and gonorrhea in the 1990s. JAMA 1990 Sep 19 264 1451-1452.

• Medline abstract (Free)

Schwarcz SK et al. National surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. JAMA 1990 Sep 19 264 1413-1417.

• Medline abstract (Free)