Comparison of modified New York City medium with Martin-Lewis Medium for recovery of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from clinical specimens.

A modified formulation of New York City medium was comparatively evaluated with Martin-Lewis medium for the recovery of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from clinical specimens. A total of 240 strains of gonococci were recovered from 1,250 specimens collected from walk-in patients attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic. N. gonorrhoeae was cultivated on both of these media from 182 clinical specimens with an additional 58 gonococcal strains isolated on either of the media. Of these discrepant gonococcal isolates, 27 strains were recovered on only modified New York City medium, whereas the remaining 31 strains were recovered on only Martin-Lewis agar. The differences in these isolation rates were not statistically significant. The overall results showed that modified New York City and Martin-Lewis media were comparable in their ability to grow gonococci from clinical material. Since modified New York City medium is capable of supporting the growth of N. gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and urogenital mycoplasmas and inhibiting the growth of commensal microorganisms, it is possible that it may have considerable application as a multifunctional plating medium within the clinical laboratory.