TY - JOUR AU - Whiley, David AU - Trembizki, Ella AU - Buckley, Cameron AU - Freeman, Kevin AU - Baird, Robert AU - Beaman, Miles AU - Chen, Marcus AU - Donovan, Basil AU - Kundu, Ratan AU - Fairley, Christopher AU - Guy, Rebecca AU - Hogan, Tiffany AU - Kaldor, John AU - Karimi, Mahdad AU - Limnios, Athena AU - Regan, David AU - Ryder, Nathan AU - Su, Jiunn-Yih AU - Ward, James AU - Lahra, Monica T1 - Molecular Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Northern Territory, Australia T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2017 VL - 23 IS - 9 SP - 1478 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Neisseria gonorrhoeae antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a globally recognized health threat; new strategies are needed to enhance AMR surveillance. The Northern Territory of Australia is unique in that 2 different first-line therapies, based primarily on geographic location, are used for gonorrhea treatment. We tested 1,629 N. gonorrhoeae nucleic acid amplification test–positive clinical samples, collected from regions where ceftriaxone plus azithromycin or amoxicillin plus azithromycin are recommended first-line treatments, by using 8 N. gonorrhoeae AMR PCR assays. We compared results with those from routine culture-based surveillance data. PCR data confirmed an absence of ceftriaxone resistance and a low level of azithromycin resistance (0.2%), and that penicillin resistance was <5% in amoxicillin plus azithromycin regions. Rates of ciprofloxacin resistance and penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae were lower when molecular methods were used. Molecular methods to detect N. gonorrhoeae AMR can increase the evidence base for treatment guidelines, particularly in settings where culture-based surveillance is limited. KW - Neisseria gonorrhoeae KW - antimicrobial resistance KW - molecular KW - surveillance KW - gonococcus KW - gonorrhea KW - bacteria KW - culture KW - Australia KW - Northern Territory KW - antimicrobial drugs KW - AMR DO - 10.3201/eid2309.170427 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/23/9/17-0427_article ER - End of Reference