Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genitourinary Medicine logoLink to Genitourinary Medicine
. 1993 Aug;69(4):286–289. doi: 10.1136/sti.69.4.286

Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated at St. Mary's Hospital London, 1980-91.

A M Renton 1, C A Ison 1, L Whitaker 1, K Kirtland 1, E Kupek 1, J R Harris 1
PMCID: PMC1195089  PMID: 7721290

Abstract

OBJECTIVE--To describe and discuss the trends in the isolation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from patients attending the Genitourinary Medicine Clinic at St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London between 1980 and 1991. DESIGN--A retrospective study of the total number of gonococci isolated over an eleven year period was performed. In addition, for the years 1988-1991 the number of isolates from homosexual men was analysed by age of the patient, site of infection and HIV antibody status of the patient. RESULTS--The total number of N. gonorrhoeae isolates identified declined markedly between 1980 and 1989 from 3670 to 750 isolates. Over the same time period the number of specimens screened for N. gonorrhoeae fell by 50%. In 1990 there was an increase in N. gonorrhoeae isolates but this was not maintained, and in 1991 the number of N. gonorrhoeae fell to its lowest level of 638 isolates. The decrease since 1980 occurred in both men and women although the number of rectal isolates from men showed a steeper decline reaching its lowest level of 24 isolates in 1988. The number of rectal isolates from homosexual men has since increased with a peak in 1990. Many of the infections among homosexual men occurred in older men and included insignificant number of patients who were HIV positive. CONCLUSION--Gonorrhoea among attenders at St. Mary's Hospital has declined dramatically since 1980 following trends reported from much of Europe. The increase in gonococcal isolates since 1989 and the peak in 1990 are unexplained but are coincident with a higher number of isolates from homosexual men.

Full text

PDF
288

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Copley C. G., Egglestone S. I. Auxotyping of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated in the United Kingdom. J Med Microbiol. 1983 Aug;16(3):295–302. doi: 10.1099/00222615-16-3-295. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. French P. D., Mercey D. E., Tomlinson D. R., Harris J. R. Preventing the spread of HIV infection. BMJ. 1991 Apr 20;302(6782):962–962. doi: 10.1136/bmj.302.6782.962-b. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gellan M. C., Ison C. A. Declining incidence of gonorrhoea in London: a response to fear of AIDS? Lancet. 1986 Oct 18;2(8512):920–920. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90440-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ison C. A., Gedney J., Easmon C. S. Chromosomal resistance of gonococci to antibiotics. Genitourin Med. 1987 Aug;63(4):239–243. doi: 10.1136/sti.63.4.239. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ison C. A., Whitaker L., Renton A. Concordance of auxotype/serovar classes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae between sexual contacts. Epidemiol Infect. 1992 Oct;109(2):265–271. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800050214. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Judson F. N. Fear of AIDS and gonorrhea rates in homosexual men. Lancet. 1983 Jul 16;2(8342):159–160. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(83)90138-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Riley V. C. Resurgent gonorrhoea in homosexual men. Lancet. 1991 Jan 19;337(8734):183–183. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)90853-h. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ross J. D., McMillan A., Young H. Changing trends of gonococcal infection in homosexual men in Edinburgh. Epidemiol Infect. 1991 Dec;107(3):585–590. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800049281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Singaratnam A. E., Boag F., Barton S. E., Hawkins D. A., Lawrence A. G. Preventing the spread of HIV infection. BMJ. 1991 Feb 23;302(6774):469–469. doi: 10.1136/bmj.302.6774.469-b. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Tomlinson D. R., French P. D., Harris J. R., Mercey D. E. Does rectal gonorrhoea reflect unsafe sex? Lancet. 1991 Feb 23;337(8739):501–502. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)93447-h. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Waugh M. A. Resurgent gonorrhoea in homosexual men. Lancet. 1991 Feb 9;337(8737):375–375. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)91017-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Weller I. V., Hindley D. J., Adler M. W., Meldrum J. T. Gonorrhoea in homosexual men and media coverage of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome in London 1982-3. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1984 Oct 20;289(6451):1041–1041. doi: 10.1136/bmj.289.6451.1041. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. van den Hoek J. A., van Griensven G. J., Coutinho R. A. Increase in unsafe homosexual behaviour. Lancet. 1990 Jul 21;336(8708):179–180. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)91700-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genitourinary Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES