1. Targeting Culture Criteria to Maximize Culture Positivity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in 3 Sexual Health Clinic Settings.
- Author
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Nguyen TQ, Jamison K, Pfister J, Sankaran M, Amsterdam L, Siemetzk-Kapoor U, and Pathela P
- Subjects
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S., Humans, Male, Neisseria gonorrhoeae genetics, Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques, United States epidemiology, Gonorrhea diagnosis, Gonorrhea drug therapy, Sexual Health
- Abstract
Background: Although most gonorrhea (GC) cases in the United States are detected using nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), isolation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) using culture specimens is needed for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST). We present data on NAATs and cultures collected before and during the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstration project (Strengthening the US Response to Resistant Gonorrhea [SURRG]) to describe a process to define culture criteria for NG isolation for surveillance of NG with reduced susceptibility., Methods: For sexually transmitted infection clinics in New York City, NY; San Francisco, CA; and Milwaukee, WI, we calculated NAAT positivity by anatomic site in 2016 (pre-SURRG) across 3 groups: (1) sex partners of persons with GC, (2) patients with symptoms (e.g., urethral or cervical discharge), (3) patients who had tested positive and were returning for GC treatment and compared it with positivity among all other patients. We then examined SURRG-period NAAT positivity among patients from whom a culture was or was not collected, and culture positivity, by specimen site and jurisdiction., Results: Pre-SURRG, NAAT positivity across the 3 select groups was at least twice that of patients who did not meet any criteria. SURRG-period NAAT positivity was higher among patients from whom a culture was also collected. Overall culture positivity was relatively high (New York City, 34.8%; San Francisco, 26.7%; Milwaukee, 24.8%); the proportion of specimens tested varied widely (range, 5.7%-26.5%) by jurisdiction., Conclusions: Evaluation of NAAT data can inform the establishment of criteria for culture collection for AST. Routine evaluation and quality improvement activities related to culture collection/isolation techniques could increase NG isolation for AST., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest and Sources of Funding: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Strengthening the US Response to Resistant Gonorrhea activities described in this article were supported by federal Antibiotic Resistance Initiative funding and administered through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement (CK19-1904)., (Copyright © 2021 American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2021
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