Surveillance of antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the WHO Western Pacific Region, 1998. The WHO Western Pacific Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme

Effective treatment of gonorrhoea in the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Region is hampered by the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. A programme of surveillance of gonococcal susceptibility to antibiotics (GASP) continued in the region in 1998. A high proportion of isolates in many participating countries was resistant to quinolones and penicillins, continuing trends observed by this programme since 1992. Resistance to the later generation cephalosporins and to spectinomycin was absent or infrequent. Options for effective treatment of gonorrhoea in the region have been severely compromised by antibiotic resistance.