J Bacteriol Virol.  2012 Mar;42(1):9-16. 10.4167/jbv.2012.42.1.9.

Antimicrobial Resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Isolated in Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
  • 2Department of Laboratory Medicine and Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. leekcp@yuhs.ac

Abstract

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative agent of gonorrhea, one of the most important sexually transmitted diseases. The incidence of gonorrhea is still prevalent and about 50,000 new cases have been reported annually during the late 2000s in Korea. The antimicrobial resistance of N. gonorrhoeae is very prevalent and most isolates are multi-drug resistant to penicillin G, tetracycline, and fluoroquinolones. The incidence of penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) decreased significantly, but high-level tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae (TRNG) increased recently. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of ceftriaxone were within the susceptible range for all isolates, but MIC creep has been apparent and one cefixime-nonsusceptible isolate (0.5 microg/ml) was found. Spectinomycin-resistant isolates remain rare, but caution should be required when dealing with gonococcal pharyngitis.

Keyword

Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Gonorrhea; Gonococcal infection; Antimicrobial resistance; Korea

MeSH Terms

Ceftriaxone
Fluoroquinolones
Gonorrhea
Incidence
Korea
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Neisseria
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Penicillin G
Pharyngitis
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Tetracycline
Ceftriaxone
Fluoroquinolones
Penicillin G
Tetracycline

Figure

  • Figure 1 Annual trend of rates of penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG), highly tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae (TRNG), and ciprofloxacin-resistance in N. gonorrhoeae (CIP-R) isolated in Korea


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