Whole genome sequencing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from Vietnam, 2024
The World Health Organization (WHO) Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP) was initiated in 2015 in Thailand,1,2 and has now been expanded to include Brazil, Malawi, Cambodia,3,4 Indonesia, The Philippines, South Africa, Thailand,1,2 Uganda, Vietnam,5 and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, India, and Qatar are in implementation phases. The WHO EGASP uses standardised and quality-assured protocols and in 2023 whole-genome sequencing (WGS), test-of-cure and, extragenital sampling, where feasible, were implemented (https://www.who.int/initiatives/gonococcal-antimicrobial-surveillance-programme). The WHO EGASP-Viet Nam was implemented in the second quarter of 2023 and it is coordinated by the WHO, Geneva, Switzerland; WHO Country Office, Hanoi, Viet Nam; National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology, HCMC, Viet Nam; Quy Hoa Hospital for Leprosy and Dermatology-Venereology, Quy Hoa, Viet Nam; and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhoea and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Örebro, Sweden. Specimens are collected from males with urethral discharge attending the three participating hospitals in Viet Nam. Specimen collection, transportation, culture, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) testing, and preservation of isolates are performed in strict concordance with the WHO EGASP protocols (https://www.who.int/initiatives/gonococcal-antimicrobial-surveillance-programme).