Gonorrhea Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.
These are the MediaLab courses that cover Gonorrhea and links to relevant pages within the course.
Learn more about laboratory continuing education for medical technologists to earn CE credit for AMT, ASCP, NCA, and state license renewal and recertification. Or get information about laboratory safety and compliance courses that deliver cost-effective OSHA safety training and continuing education to your laboratory's employees.
| A 25 year-old female presented in the emergency room with an acute urethral discharge of 2 days duration. A smear for gram stain was obtained (see accompanying image). Many polymorphonuclear leukocytes and intracellular and extracellular gram negative diplococci were observed.
Based on the clinical history and the gram stain observation, a diagnosis of gonorrhea can be made. | View Page |
| Review 2 Smith KR, Fisher HC III, Hook, EW III: Prevalence of fluorescent monoclonal antibody-nonreactive Neisseria gonorrhoeae in five North American sexually transmitted disease clinics.J Clin Microbiol 34:1551-1552, 1996We compared a direct fluorescent monoclonal antibody (DFA) test with alternative enzymatic and fermention tests for identifying presumptive gonococcal isolates in a systematic sample from patients attending five sexually transmitted disease clinics in five cities.Fourteen (2.5%) of 556 isolates from three clinics were nonreactive with the DFA confirmatory reagent and reactive by both the Quad-Ferm and Rapid NH tests. The prevalence of DFA-nonreactive Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates varies geographically and is independent of local methods for the identification of possible gonococci.On the basis of our findings, we recommend that for use in medicolegal and other instances in which a diagnosis of gonorrhea has the potential to have far-reaching effects, it is appropriate to test DFA reagent-nonreactive, oxidase-positive, gram-negative diplococci by alternative methods of gonococcal confirmation.Although the prevalence of such isolates could change, the fluorescent monoclonal antibody confirmation reagents remain useful for many clinical situations. Their ease of use and ready applicability for screening large numbers of isolates make them useful for many laboratories. | View Page |
| Acute gonorrhea is the most common cause of septic arthritis in patients under 30 years of age. | View Page |
| The recovery of an oxidase-positive, gram-negative diplococcus that tests DFA-nonreactive should be tested by alternative methods when establishing a fool-proof diagnosis of gonorrhea. | View Page |
| The presence of gram negative intracellular diplococci in a female is diagnostic of gonorrhea. | View Page |
| Special Considerations for Genital Smears Gram negative cocci which occur in pairs with their adjacent sides flattened, giving them a coffee bean appearance, are typical of the genus Neisseria. Neisseria gonorrhea is commonly found within white blood cells; these organisms must be carefully sought within genital tract specimens, and their presence or absence should be specifically noted in the report.The presence of intracellular gram negative bacilli in a purulent male urethral smear is presumptive evidence of gonococci, but this assumption cannot be made in a female. Beware of other organisms which resemble gonococci but are found extracellularly, such as Acinetobacter lwoffi, which must be distinguished biochemically. | View Page |
| In a male with a purulent urethral exudate, a presumptive diagnosis of gonorrhea is made by finding gram negative intracellular diplococci in a direct smear of the exudate. | View Page |
| Tetrad Cell Arrangement Examples of Gram positive bacteria appearing in tetrads are seen in this slide. Sometimes bacteria in tetrad may not be as clear cut as this drawing indicates, and appear as clusters. N. gonorrhea colonies may appear as tetrads especially if the smear is made from very young colonies.
| View Page |