Rising quinolone resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from New Delhi.
OBJECTIVE
Treatment for gonorrhoea with fluoroquinolones is recommended. However, reduced susceptibility and treatment failure with fluoroquinolones has recently been reported. We undertook to study the antibiotic susceptibility pattern and the incidence of quinolone resistance in 36 consecutive isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from April to November 2000.


METHODS
Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion technique and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ciprofloxacin was determined by the agar dilution method. Penicillinase producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) were identified by using the nitrocefin disc method.


RESULTS
Thirty six strains of N. gonorrhoeae obtained from 44 consecutive male patients (81.9%) were studied. By the disc diffusion method, only 3 (8.3%) of these isolates were found to be sensitive to ciprofloxacin. All isolates were sensitive to ceftriaxone while 23 (63.9%) were sensitive to tetracycline and 12 (33.3%) to penicillin. Four (11.1%) of the N. gonorrhoeae isolates were PPNG. Twenty seven (75%) isolates were found to be resistant to ciprofloxacin by MIC determination.


CONCLUSIONS
Incidence of ciprofloxacin resistance amongst N. gonorrhoeae isolates is on the rise in New Delhi. Periodic monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of N. gonorrhoeae to antimicrobials other than quinolones is essential to prevent treatment failure in patients with gonorrhoea.
Departments of Microbiology & Skin & STD, Maulana Azad Medical College & Associated, Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi, India.
P
P
Bhalla
S
S
Vidhani
B S N
BS
Reddy
S
S
Chowdhry
M D
MD
Mathur
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D024841:Fluoroquinolones