Antibiogram and plasmid profiles of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from Cameroon: useful tools for epidemiological survey.

A prospective laboratory-based investigative study was carried out on clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoea to determine their antibiotic susceptibility patterns and plasmid profile using standard microbiological and molecular techniques. All the 32 isolates studied showed total resistance to penicillin, spectinomycin and amoxyclinE. On the other hand, susceptibilities of 100%, 98.6% and 98.6% were noted for ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and norfloxacin respectively. Thirty (93.8%) of the 32 isolates were found to harbour plasmids of molecular weights ranging from 9.2 to 25.2 Mdal. Three distinct groups of N. gonorrhoea isolates were identified based on the molecular weights of the plasmids, namely, group one (9.2 Mdal), group two (12.6 Mdal) and group three (25.2 Mdal). These results suggest that different strains of N. gonorrhoea may be circulating in Fako Division of Cameroon, a finding that is of clinical and epidemiological significance.