Epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance profile of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Catalonia, Spain, 2016 –2019

AbstractAntimicrobial resistance data forNeisseria gonorrhoeae  is globally sparse and resistant strains are emerging in Catalonia. We aim to describe epidemiological and antimicrobial resistance in all patients infected withN. gonorrhoeae during the period from 2016 to 2019, using available antimicrobial susceptibility data. We retrospectively analysed confirmed  N. gonorrhoeae cases notified to Catalonia ’s microbiological reporting system. Antibiotic susceptibility testing (azithromycin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, penicillin, spectinomycin, and tetracycline) was assessed using clinical breakpoints published by the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. Incidence ra tes were calculated and proportions were compared using the χ2 test or Fisher ’s exact test, and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 18.0). A total of 14,251 confirmed cases ofN. gonorrhoeae were notified. Incidence increased from 30.7 cases/100,000 person-years (p <  0.001) in 2016 to 64.7 in 2019. Culture was available in 6,292 isolates (44.2%), of which 5,377 (85.5%) were resistant to at least one of the antibiotics tested. Azithromycin resistance rose from 6.1% in 2016 to 16% in 2019 (p <  0.001). Only 1.0% (45 cases) were resistant to ceftriaxone. Multidrug-resistantN. gonorrhoeae increased from 0.25% in 2016 to 0.42% in 2019 (p = 0.521). One case presented extensively drug-resistantN. gonorrhoeae. In Catalonia, 10% of the...
Source: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research