Susceptibility pattern of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to antimicrobial agents inDar es salaam

Objective: To determine the susceptibility pattern of local strains of Neis seria gonorrhoeae from Dar es salaam, Tanzania to locally used antibiotics, Method: Out of 429 Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains isolated between 1993 and 1995, one hundred and ninety nine were recovered and tested, Minimum inhibi tory concentrations (MIC) of penicillin, doxycycline, erythromycin, cefurox ime and ciprofloxacin were determined by the E-test method while that of sp ectinomycin was measured by the agar dilution method. Penicillinase produci ng N, gonorrhoeae were identified by the chromogenic cephalosporin method. Results: Of the 199 strains tested 128 (64%) were found to be penicillinase producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG). Only 19 (10%) were penicillin sens itive while all penicillin resistant strains were found to be PPNG. One hun dred and seventy five (88%), 11 (5%) and 13 (7%) of the tested isolates wer e resistant, less susceptible and fully susceptible to doxycycline respecti vely. Resistance to cotrimoxazole, cefuroxime and ciprofloxacin was 36 (18% ), 11 (6%), and 3 (2%) respectively, The trend of antibiotic susceptibility rates over the three year period of study showed a significant increase in the proportion of susceptible strains to cotrimoxazole. All of the 75 stra ins tested against spectinomycin were susceptible, There was a statisticall y significant difference between the susceptibility patterns of non-PPNG an d PPNG, Non-PPNG isolates were more susceptible to doxycycline (chi(2) = 78 .2, df 2, p = < 0.0001), Conclusion: These findings have shown that spectinomycin, ciprofloxacin and cefuroxime could continue to be used to treat gonorrhoea in our settings. Continuous surveillance of susceptibility to the commonly used antibiotics is important in order to detect emergence of resistance early and control t he possible wide spread of resistant strains.