Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from fertile and infertile women

Purpose: To study the prevalence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the high vaginal swab samples of fertile and infertile women who were referred to Infertility and Sterility Hospitals, Tehran, Iran as well as investigate their antibiotic resistance pattern. Methods: Three hundred and twenty high vaginal swabs were taken from fertile and infertile women. The samples were cultured and those that were N. gonorrhoeae-positive subjected to the disk diffusion susceptibility test. Results: Prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae in fertile and infertile women were 5.26 and 16.92 %, respectively. All isolates harbored orf1 gene. Patients in the age bracket > 40 years were at high risk. N. gonorrhoeae strains showed high level resistance against ampicillin (87.5 %), ciprofloxacin (75 %), tetracycline (71.87 %) and penicillin (68.75 %). Conclusion: The possible role of resistant N. gonorrhoeae as pathogens causing female infertility constitutes an important finding of the study. The high levels of bacterial resistance against ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, penicillin and spectinomycin, should be taken into account in developing any new guidelines in the management of the infection.