Developing molecular detection of ceftriaxone resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The Gonococcal Resistance to Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (GRASP) monitors AMR trends using cultured gonococcal isolates; findings are used to inform first-line treatment options, currently 1 g ceftriaxone, which is currently the only viable option for treatment and must be protected. A successful culture to perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing is only available about 50% of the time, therefore we are missing resistance data in approximately 50% of gonorrhoea cases.

We established a PCR to detect high-level ceftriaxone resistance to be used to enhance GRASP and for use in the investigation of treatment failures where a culture is unavailable.

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