Phenotypic and molecular study of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae collected by a New Caledonian sentinel network

Gonorrhoea, a major sexually transmitted infection, is a major public health concern, notably because of the antimicrobial resistance of its causative agent, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG). Decreased penicillin and fluoroquinolone susceptibilities mainly involve stepwise chromosomal mutations. The objective of our study was to correlate the presence of major determinants detected by multiplex realtime PCR assays with phenotypic antimicrobial results in 453 NG isolates and to evaluate the relevance of these genetic markers in antibiotic resistance surveillance. The genotypes obtained have been validated with NG from different countries and correlated with phenotypes. Recently, we established a sentinel network throughout New Caledonia to collect isolates from both public and private medical centres to reinforce surveillance of the emergence of antibiotic resistance in gonococci.