Diagnosis of gonorrhoea using a genetic transformation test at a venereal disease clinic in Thailand.

ABSTRACT

A genetic transformation test (GTT), a technique in which gonococcal DNA is detected in clinical specimens, was used to search for Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections in 37 men and 159 women at the Venereal Disease clinic in Cholburi, Thailand. Swabs were collected in duplicate from cervical specimens from 159 women and from urethral specimens from 37 men. One of each specimen was cultured on Thayer-Martin media while the other was mailed to the United States at room temperature for the GTT which involved a delay of 10 to 14 days. With the urethral specimens N. gonorrhoeae was identified in 84% (31/37) of specimens and there was 100% concordance between the results of the GTT and culturing specimens directly on Thayer-Martin media. With cervical specimens N. gonorrhoeae was isolated from 26% (41/159) by the standard culture technique and 19% (13/159) by the GTT. Seventy-six percent of the culture positive specimens were positive with the GTT and two specimens from which N. gonorrhoeae were not isolated were positive in the GTT. The GTT technique enables physicians to send swab collected from patient with suspected gonorrhoea without any special transport media to a central laboratory for laboratory diagnosis of gonorrhoeal infections. This technique which uses reagents which are available in most bacteriology laboratories, should facilitate surveillance of gonorrhoea especially when specimens are collected in clinics where bacteriology laboratory facilities are not available.