Comparison of genital and respiratory carriage of Haemophilus parainfluenzae in men

In the first study, genital carriage of Haemophilus parainfluenzae was investigated in 103 women and 292 men attending a clinic for genitourinary medicine. In a second study, pairs of urethral and throat swabs were studied in 279 men. The vaginal carriage was 2%, urethral 12.4% and throat 13.3%. Biotype 2 was found to be a genital type and throat carriage of this biotype was significantly associated with its concomitant urethral carriage. Biotypes 1 and 3 were mainly found in the throat. Biotype 2 was significantly more likely to be resistant to ampicillin, tetracycline and sulphonamide but biotype 1 was significantly more likely to be resistant to trimethoprim.