Pharyngeal gonorrhea
A. W. Tice Jr and V. L. Rodriguez
Cultures of genital sites and pharynx were obtained from 903 prostitutes
and 102 active-duty men at Clark AFB, Republic of the Philippines, during
the first quarter of 1981. Slightly more than 2.2% positive pharyngeal
cultures in the women and 6% in the men were noted. Both
penicillin-sensitive and penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae
(PPNG) were recovered. Treatment and follow-up of the pharyngeal infections
were available only for the men seen at the Clark Public Health Clinic.
These men responded to penicillin G procaine for penicillin-sensitive N
gonorrhoeae and to spectinomycin hydrochloride for PPNG. A retrospective
review of cases of male gonococcal urethritis seen in 1980 in the Clark
Public Health Clinic revealed 46 cases of probable oral-to-genital transfer
of N gonorrhoeae among more than 2,600 cases of gonococcal urethritis. Of
these 46, fifteen were PPNG. The importance of the pharynx as a source of
infection is thus substantiated.
