[Spectinomycin resistant gonococcal infections in West Germany. Detection in 7 patients and occurrence of post-gonorrheal epididymitis caused by the spectinomycin-resistant PPNG strain].

Seven patients (four men, three women) with gonococcal urethritis resistant to spectinomycin treatment were seen in May and June 1989 in the Department of Dermatology in Berlin (West), and strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) resistant to spectinomycin were detected, cultured in vitro from these individuals. In five of the seven patients penicillin-resistant strains were found, including a penicillinase-producing strain in one case; the other two patients had penicillin-sensitive strains. In all cases the NG-populations detected were sensitive to cephalosporin and cipro(oxo)floxacin. In a 17-year-old young man with the PPNG strain severe gonococcal epididymitis developed after repeated infection that had been inadequately treated with spectinomycin. All seven patients mentioned sexual contact with individuals who lived in Southeast Asia or had their origins there; in at least four cases the contact persons came from Thailand. This is the first report on spectinomycin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections (PPNG and non-PPNG) in the Federal Republic of Germany. The necessity for monitoring the results of penicillin and/or spectinomycin treatment of gonorrhoea are underlined for the dermatovenereologist, and some guidelines for therapy are given.