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Culture of non-genital sites increases the detection of gonorrhea in women.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Giannini, CM; Kim, HK; Mortensen, J; Mortensen, J; Marsolo, K; Huppert, J
Published in: J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol
August 2010

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Although gonorrhea may infect the cervix, rectum, or pharynx of women, culturing non-cervical sites is rare outside of sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics. This study aims to compare rectal and pharyngeal gonorrhea prevalence in adolescent and adult women and to calculate the percentage of cases that would be missed with cervical culture alone. DESIGN: Retrospective review of two laboratory databases. SETTING: STD clinic (2006-2007) and urban children's hospital (2003-2007). PARTICIPANTS: Adolescent women (age 14-21, n = 16,039) in the hospital database; adolescent (n=525) and adult (age >21) women (n = 1424) in the STD database. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of gonorrhea by group and culture source. RESULTS: Cervical plus additional culture was performed in 76% of adult STD, 52% of adolescent STD, and 2% of adolescent hospital samples. Pharyngeal gonorrhea prevalence in the adolescent hospital (3.5%) was similar to adolescent STD (6.8%, P = 0.1) and adult STD (2.5%, P = 0.4) samples. Rectal gonorrhea prevalence in adolescent hospital (2.9%) was lower than adolescent STD (13.4%, P = 0.01) but not adult STD (5.2%, P = 0.6) samples. Pharyngeal gonorrhea occurred in 0.6-3.4% and rectal gonorrhea in 0-2.7% of women with a negative cervical culture. Culturing only the cervix missed 20-40% of adult STD, 14-26% of adolescent STD, and 11% of adolescent hospital infected cases. CONCLUSIONS: Pharyngeal gonorrhea is as high in adolescent women from a children's hospital as in adult women from an STD clinic. Without pharyngeal culture, 11-26% of infected adolescent women would be missed. Increased pharyngeal testing may impact the gonorrhea epidemic among adolescent women.

Duke Scholars

Published In

J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol

DOI

EISSN

1873-4332

Publication Date

August 2010

Volume

23

Issue

4

Start / End Page

246 / 252

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Rectum
  • Prevalence
  • Pharynx
  • Ohio
  • Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae
  • Middle Aged
  • Humans
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Giannini, C. M., Kim, H. K., Mortensen, J., Marsolo, K., & Huppert, J. (2010). Culture of non-genital sites increases the detection of gonorrhea in women. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol, 23(4), 246–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2010.02.003
Giannini, Courtney M., Hye K. Kim, Jonathan Mortensen, Joel Mortensen, Keith Marsolo, and Jill Huppert. “Culture of non-genital sites increases the detection of gonorrhea in women.J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol 23, no. 4 (August 2010): 246–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2010.02.003.
Giannini CM, Kim HK, Mortensen J, Marsolo K, Huppert J. Culture of non-genital sites increases the detection of gonorrhea in women. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2010 Aug;23(4):246–52.
Giannini, Courtney M., et al. “Culture of non-genital sites increases the detection of gonorrhea in women.J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol, vol. 23, no. 4, Aug. 2010, pp. 246–52. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2010.02.003.
Giannini CM, Kim HK, Mortensen J, Marsolo K, Huppert J. Culture of non-genital sites increases the detection of gonorrhea in women. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2010 Aug;23(4):246–252.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol

DOI

EISSN

1873-4332

Publication Date

August 2010

Volume

23

Issue

4

Start / End Page

246 / 252

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Rectum
  • Prevalence
  • Pharynx
  • Ohio
  • Obstetrics & Reproductive Medicine
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae
  • Middle Aged
  • Humans