Antimicrobial resistance in gonococci, WHO Western Pacific Region, 1996. The WHO Western Pacific Region Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme is a multicentric long term programme for continuous surveillance of the antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. In 1996 the programme examined the susceptibility of 8,421 isolates of gonococci to various antimicrobials in 17 focal points. A trend toward increased resistance noted in earlier years continued. The proportion of quinolone resistant gonococci reported from most centres either remained stable or increased. More than 50% of isolates in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Cambodia and the Philippines had altered quinolone susceptibility. Resistance to the penicillins was again widespread, and chromosomal mediated resistance was of increasing importance. Penicillinase producing Neisseria gonorrhoea were present in all but one centre. All isolates were sensitive to the third generation cephalosporins and only a very few isolates were spectinomycin resistant. A high proportion of isolates in a number of centres had high level tetracycline resistance, but the proportion of tetracycline resistant Neisseria gonorrhoea in most centres was less than 10%.