Asymptomatic male and female gonorrhoea

Three hundred and ninety-nine patients attending the out-patient clinic of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Rigshospital, Copenhagen, for various venereal complaints were examined during a three-month trial. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was found in 75 female and 89 male patients. 43 women (57%) and 13 men (15%) were asymptomatic at the first visit. The duration of the asymptomatic period exceeded 3 weeks in 25 female (33%) and 7 male (8%) patients. The asymptomatic period in the male group varied from 15 to 90 days and from 4 to 180 days in the females. The majority of the patients with asymptomatic gonorrhoea had been exposed to a sexual contact with proven gonococcal infection, thus emphasizing the importance of contact investigation.