Pharyngeal gonorrhea

Cultures of genital sites and pharynx were obtained from 903 prostitutes and 102 active-duty men at Clark AFB, Republic of the Philippines, during the first quarter of 1981. Slightly more than 2.2% positive pharyngeal cultures in the women and 6% in the men were noted. Both penicillin-sensitive and penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) were recovered. Treatment and follow-up of the pharyngeal infections were available only for the men seen at the Clark Public Health Clinic. These men responded to penicillin G procaine for penicillin-sensitive N gonorrhoeae and to spectinomycin hydrochloride for PPNG. A retrospective review of cases of male gonococcal urethritis seen in 1980 in the Clark Public Health Clinic revealed 46 cases of probable oral-to-genital transfer of N gonorrhoeae among more than 2,600 cases of gonococcal urethritis. Of these 46, fifteen were PPNG. The importance of the pharynx as a source of infection is thus substantiated.