Abstract:
Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N. gonorrhoeae ) is the etiological agent for the strictly human sexually transmitted disease (Gonorrhea). Gonorrhea lead to severe complication such as sterility. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted to detect the frequency and susceptibility pattern of N. gonorrhoeae among symptomatic patients in Alriyadh Private Hospital, Saudi Arabia (SA) during the period from January 2018 to April 2019.
Ninety-three (n=93) symptomatic patients were included in this study, males were 91 and females were 2. Swab specimens were cultured on Modified Thayer-Martin agar (MTM) and chocolate blood agar (CBA), isolated organisms were identified by Vitek 2 Compact system and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was performed by disc diffusion method. Data were analyzed by (SPSS) software program.
Out of 93 specimens 50 (53.8%) of the patients showed positive growth of N. gonorrhoeae. Male patients with positive growth of N. gonorrhoeae were 49/93(52.7%) and female was 1/93(1.1%). Single patients with positive growth of N. gonorrhoeae 31/93 (33.3%) while married patients were 19/93 (20.4%) , multiple sex partners with positive growth of N. gonorrhoeae were 9/93 (9.7% ) and patients had no multiple sex partners were 41/93 (44.1%). Ten 10/93 (10.8%) patients with history of N. gonorrhoeae infection showed positive growth of N. gonorrhoeae while 40/93 (43.0% ) with no history.
According to age group the majority of positive growth of N. gonorrhoeae belong to 17-27 years 27/93 (29.0%) followed by 28-38 years were 19/93 (20.4%), 39-49 years were 3/93 (3.2%) and <60 years were 1/93 (1.1% ). There were no correlation between N. gonorrhoeae infection and risk factors including age, sex, history of STD, antimicrobial treatment, multiple sex partners and marital status, p. value > 0.05.
In conclusion the frequency of N. gonorrhoeae among symptomatic patients is very high, most of them in age group of 17-27 years. No correlation between N. gonorrhoeae infection and risk factors.