Meningococcal colonisation misdiagnosed as gonococcal pharyngeal infection.

Three cases of pharyngeal gonorrhoea were misdiagnosed in patients harbouring meningococci which failed to utilise maltose in CTA medium. The microbiological identity of the isolates was established by other means. Although meningococci giving atypical reactions to carbohydrate utilisation tests occur only rarely, the possibility of a misdiagnosis of gonorrhea, and its social and legal repercussions, should be considered.