Possible inhibition of N. gonnorrhoeae by C. albicans. A clinical study.

A probably sifnificant difference (p smaller that 0.05) in the occurrence of gonorrhoea was found between women with and without concomitant C. albicans infection. Although this difference could support the recently reported inhibitory effect by C. albicans on N. gonorrhoeae in vitro another explanation might be the possibility that too many women with vaginal candidiasis and no risk for a gonococcal infection were included in the material. There was nothing to support the in vivo effect of C. albicans on N. gonorrhoeae as negative gonococcal cultures in women known to have been exposed to N. gonorrhoeae could not be correlated with the presence of C. albicans. Until the clinical importance of the inhibitory factor of C. albicans has been studied further, the clinician has to be aware of the possibility of false negative gonococcal cultures from women with vaginal candidiasis.