Antimicrobial Resistance Mechanisms, Multilocus Sequence Typing, and NG-STAR Sequence Types of Diverse Neisseria gonorrhoeae Isolates in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Nireshni Mitchev, Ravesh Singh, Mushal Allam, Stanford Kwenda, Arshad Ismail, Nigel Garrett, Veron Ramsuran, Abraham J. Niehaus, Koleka Mlisana
Abstract
. This study revealed a high prevalence of AMR (penicillin 67%, tetracycline 89%, and ciprofloxacin 52%). However, spectinomycin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, and azithromycin remained 100% effective. This study is one of the first to comprehensively describe the epidemiology and AMR of N. gonorrhoeae in KZN, South Africa and Africa, using WGS. KZN has a wide strain diversity and most of these sequence types have been detected in multiple countries; however, more than half of our isolates have novel antimicrobial profiles. Continued surveillance is crucial to monitor the emergence of resistance to cefixime, ceftriaxone, and azithromycin.