Increasing antimicrobial resistance in STDs and the need for surveillance:Neisseria gonorrhoeae as a model

Neisseria gonorrhoeae has a rising trend of resistance against antimicrobia ls. Today, third generation cephalosporins are the only antibiotics for tre atment of gonorrhea against which there is no resistance in gonococci. On t he other hand, decreased susceptibility against this group, including ceftr iaxone, has already been observed. This historically famous pathogen deserv es current attention and is reviewed here with respect to its resistance me chanisms and patterns, and the problems concerning standardization of its s usceptibility testing are discussed. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microb iological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .