Temporal evolution of antimicrobial resistance among Neisseria gonorrhoeae clinical isolates in the most populated South American Metropolitan Region

A total of 124 Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates recovered during a 12-year period (2003-2015) from outpatients assisted at Centro de Referência e Treinamento DST/AIDS-CRT of São Paulo city, Brazil, were analysed. The following resistance rates were observed: penicillin-59.6%, ciprofloxacin-15.3%, and azithromycin-6.7%. Although reduced susceptibility to these drugs was observed since 2003, no ceftriaxone-resistant isolates were detected. Ciprofloxacin- and azithromycin non-susceptible isolates were grouped in 11 clusters. Mutations were detected in GyrA and ParC of isolates 124 and 260, and a C2611T substitution on 23S rRNA alleles was also observed in isolate 260. Both isolates belonged to ST1901/ST6210 (MSLT/NG-MAST schemes).