INVITRO ANTIBIOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITIES OF NEISSERIA-GONORRHOEAE ISOLATES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Antibiotic susceptibility surveillance testing was performed on clinical isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae collected in September 1989 in the Philippines. Beta-Lactamase was produced by 77 (55%) of 140 isolates. In vitro MIC testing revealed significant resistance to penicillin (MIC for 90% of isolates [MIC90], > 64-mu-g/ml), tetracycline (MIC90, 4-mu-g/ml), and cefmetazole (MIC90, 8-mu-g/ml). Spectinomycin resistance was rare (10 of 117), but the MIC90 was 32-mu-g/ml. Isolates were susceptible to fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins at the time of this survey, as evidenced by the MIC90s of ciprofloxacin (0.25-mu-g/ml), norfloxacin (2.0-mu-g/ml), ofloxacin (0.625-mu-g/ml), cefpodoxime (2.0-mu-g/ml), cefotaxime (1.0-mu-g/ml), ceftazidime (0.25-mu-g/ml), ceftizoxime (0.25-mu-g/ml), and ceftriaxone (0.06-mu-g/ml). To date, ceftriaxone resistance has not emerged, despite the widespread use of this antibiotic in the Philippines.