Antibiotic sensitivity of neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in Barbados; longitudinal surveillance 1990-1994

ABSTRACT

The antimicrobial susceptibility of 775 isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, recovered in Barbados over a five-year period, was studied by disc diffusion. Sensitivity to penicillin declined from 56 percent in 1990 to 38 percent in 1994. The prevalence of ß-lactamase production rose from 30 percent to 50 percent during this period and sensitivity to tetracycline declined from 96 percent to 46 percent, while co-trimoxazole and spectinomycin sensitivities varied. Ceftriaxone, norfloxacin and erythromycin were the only compounds tested to which sensitivity remained uniform. The results confirm the current recommendations by several agencies that ceftriaxone or an oral fluoroquinolone should be considered the drug of choice for the empirical treatment of gonorrhoea