Improved recovery of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from clinical specimens by selective enrichment and detection by immunologic methods.

Five thousand eight hundred forty-nine cervical and rectal swabs were cultured for Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Swabs remained in Amies' transport medium for approximately 2 hr before primary plating and enrichment for 6 hr in a selective broth. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was detected in 87 specimens. In 72 (83%) of the 87, N. gonorrhoeae was detected by primary plating, and in 15 (17%), detection was possible only after enrichment. Although enrichment is advantageous in recovering N. gonorrhoeae from swabs that have been in transport medium for several hours, the advantage of the enrichment technique over immediate direct plating remains to be determined. Positive enrichment broth cultures were tested at 6 hr for the presence of N. gonorrhoeae; 52% were positive by counterimmunoelectrophoresis, 71% were positive by coagglutination, and 97% were positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.