Oropharyngeal flora and individual susceptibility to neisserial infection

Beta-haemolytic streptococci were isolated from throat swabs from 49 (10.5%) of 466 patients undergoing cultural examination for gonorrhoea. Although beta-haemolytic streptococci were isolated more frequently from patients with genital or anorectal gonorrhoea (15.9%) than from those without (9.2%), the difference was not statistically significant. When groupable (A, B, C, or G) and other (non-A, -B, -C, or -G) beta-haemolytic streptococci were analysed separately, as statistically significant association between non-A, -B, -C, or -G streptococci and gonococci was observed but not between groupable beta-haemolytic streptococci and gonococci.