434. Concurrent Gonococcal Infections with Differing Susceptibility Results from the Enhanced Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (eGISP)

Abstract

BackgroundConcurrent gonococcal infections could impact treatment success in cases of anatomic site-specific strains with different antimicrobial susceptibilities; however, little is known about same-patient differences in susceptibility as most antibiotic resistance surveillance is based on only male urethral isolates.MethodsIn August 2017, the enhanced Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (eGISP) began collecting male and female genital and extragenital gonococcal isolates from patients in 12 STD clinics. Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) for penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, cefixime, ceftriaxone and azithromycin were determined by agar dilution. We identified patients with isolates from multiple anatomic sites of infection collected during the same clinic visit. Isolate sets were categorized as pairs or triplets based on the number of culture positive anatomic sites. We identified same-patient isolate sets with differing MICs (≥2 dilution difference) for each antibiotic, and identified if the difference affected susceptibility categorization. All isolates in a set were tested in the same batch run by the same laboratory.ResultsFrom August 2017-February 2019, 280 isolates were collected from 135 patients, representing 136 isolate sets (128 pairs and 8 triplets); one patient contributed 2 isolate sets. Of the 136 isolate sets, the majority (72; 53%) were grouped as genital and pharyngeal isolates (Table 1). Overall, 33 isolate sets (24%) had differing MICs for ≥1 antibiotic and 21 sets (15%) for ≥2 antibiotics. Across all anatomical site combinations, differing MICs were most common for ciprofloxacin (10.3%), penicillin (9.6%) and azithromycin (9.6%). Only 18 isolate sets (13%) demonstrated differing MICs where an isolate was considered susceptible and another was considered resistant or reduced-susceptible.ConclusionAmong persons with concurrent gonococcal infections, MICs can vary by ≥2 dilutions between sites and may change susceptibility interpretation. Variation by the anatomic site can result from initial infection with multiple strains or differential development of resistance after infection. Continued surveillance of multi-site infections could help understand resistance development and inform patient management. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.