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Gonorrhea: express diagnostics of gonorrhea in the separated material from the urethra
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 19.11.2021
Gonococci cause purulent inflammation of the genital tract - gonorrhea. The difficulty of their detection lies in their weak viability, which does not allow the bacteriological method to be widely used (it gives positive results in 20-30% of cases). The method of staining smears by Gram of material taken from the cervical canal in women before antibacterial therapy has a sensitivity of 45-65%, for smears from the urethra - 16%, with a specificity of more than 90%. The coloration of smears from the urethra in men has a sensitivity and specificity of more than 95% in the presence of clinical manifestations of the disease, without clinical manifestations - 69% and 86%, respectively.
In recent years, serological diagnostic methods have been widely used. They give positive results not only in acute forms of the disease, but also (most importantly) with prolonged and chronic processes, as well as with complicated gonorrhea.
The method is based on the detection of Neisseria antigens in scrapings from the urethra, cervical canal and conjunctiva by ELISA with a visual evaluation of the result. This method, based on the presence in the neyseries of the rhodospecific lipopolysaccharide antigen, allows rapid screening of the pathogen. The results of the study are positive or negative. To obtain satisfactory results, it is necessary to follow certain rules: the material must be correctly taken (scraped) and delivered to the laboratory in a timely manner (within 2 hours). The method has a high sensitivity (more than 80%) and specificity (more than 97%).
The test allows to diagnose gonococcal infection with urethritis, prostatitis, vaginitis, cervicitis, adnexitis.
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