Penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection in adolescent prostitutes in detention.

In the first quarter of 1983, four (17%) of 24 cases of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection diagnosed in female adolescent detainees in King County, Washington were caused by penicillinase-producing (PPNG) strains. Twelve (3%) of 397 reported cases of female gonorrhea in the rest of King County during this time were caused by PPNG strains (p less than 0.01). All the detainees with PPNG infection were prostitutes. Their case histories are presented here. Three had signs and symptoms suggestive of pelvic inflammatory disease. In areas with endemic PPNG, all isolates of N. gonorrhoeae from female adolescent detainees should be tested for pencillinase production, and all prostitutes with genitourinary symptoms suggestive of gonorrhea should be treated with an antimicrobial resistant to pencillinase.