Gonorrhoea surveillance study maps antibiotic resistance across Europe

This genomic approach could one day help doctors prescribe the most effective antibiotics for each region.

Reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the study has also established an open genomic database of gonorrhoea. The new resource will support real-time ongoing surveillance of gonorrhoea worldwide, which public health officials could use to monitor which strains of gonorrhoea are present globally and where new antibiotic resistance is emerging.

Gonorrhoea is the second most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) globally and is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The WHO estimates that gonorrhoea infects 88 million people globally each year.

Amongst other complications, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility if left untreated, and in some cases leads to life-threatening complications such as meningitis. Transmitted during unprotected sex, many strains of gonorrhoea are now difficult to treat due to the rise in antibiotic resistance.

To understand the extent of multidrug resistant strains and determine the best method for surveillance, the researchers studied 1054 samples of N. gonorrhoeae collected from 20 countries across Europe in 2013.

Each sample was tested locally for type and antibiotic sensitivity, and was sent to a central laboratory for DNA extraction. The DNA was then sequenced and the data analysed at the Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance and made accessible via their online platform, creating the first European-wide database of gonorrhoea.

The scientists discovered that using genomic data allowed them to identify clinically important, antibiotic resistant strains much more accurately than existing typing techniques, and to identify incorrect laboratory antibiotic resistance results.

Discover more here.

Image credit: CDC / Wellcome Sanger Institute.