Antimicrobial resistance patterns in Neisseria gonorrhoeae among male clients of a sexually transmitted infections clinic in Kisumu, Kenya

Abstract

Approximately 11.4 million cases of gonorrhea occur in the WHO African Region annually and global incidence has been increasing. We sought to determine the distribution and types of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) in Kisumu, Kenya. Urethral swab specimens were obtained from men attending Universities of Nairobi, Illinois, and Manitoba sexually transmitted infection clinic with urethral discharge detected on clinical exam between 29 January and 2 July 2018. Gonorrhea was confirmed by culturing on Thayer–Martin GC Culture selective media. Disk diffusion was used to measure resistance to antimicrobials. Of the 138 males with history of urethral discharge or dysuria or urethral discharge on exam identified during the surveillance period, urethral swab samples were obtained from 60 men, and 35 (58%) were culture positive. Interpretation of the disk diffusion results showed high resistance (% of isolates) to: penicillin (97%), tetracycline (100%), ciprofloxacin (100%), and doxycycline (91%). All isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone (100%) and azithromycin (100%). We observed high rates of resistance to several drug classes, likely driven by background selective pressure, as resistance was not observed among currently recommended Kenyan therapies for urethritis. Expanded surveillance for antimicrobial resistance in NG is warranted. Agar dilution or Etest reference testing is needed for accurate assessment of resistance.