[Using polymerase chain reaction for the detection of gonorrhoea in women and children in Taiyuan].

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was established for the detection of gonococcal gene in samples obtained from women and children with lower genital tract infection. The primers were used for PCR amplification derived from sequence for DNA representing part of the open reading frame (ORF) for the chromosome of N. gonorrhoea. In this study, a total number of 9204 specimens were obtained from women and children with lower genital tract infection from 1986 to 1995 in Taiyuan. The positive rate of N. gonorrhoea for Gram's stain of smears was 26.5% while the rates for culture and PCR were 12.4% and 21.0%, respectively. The results showed that PCR test was simple, rapid sensitive and specific for the detection of gonococcal gene in clinical specimens.