Auxotypes and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in black and white patients.

Abstract

Isolates of N. gonorrhoeae from 100 white and 113 black patients attending a venereal disease clinic were examined for their susceptibility to ampicillin, penicillin, tetracycline and spectinomycin. The isolates were characterized by gonococcal auxotyping. Gonococcal isolates from black patients were more resistant to the antibiotics than those from white patients, since the former were infected with the more antibiotic-resistant auxotypes (Pro, Zero and Arg) whereas the latter were infected with the more antibiotic-susceptible auxotypes (AHU and others). There may be a preferential infection by subpopulations of N. gonorrhoeae in 2 racial groups.