Prevalence, Antibiotic Resistance and Associated Factors of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Among Patients Attending Non-Profitable Private Clinics in Mekelle, Tigrai, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Globally, Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the second most common cause of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases. The prominent predicament of this bacterium is its complications, non-susceptibility for many drugs, and aggravated transmission of other sexually transmitted infections. There is limited information about the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and risk factors of N. gonorrhoeae in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and risk factors of N. gonorrhoeae among patients attending non-profitable private clinics in Mekelle, Tigrai, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study among 229 patients was conducted from February to June 2018. The socio-demographic data and associated factors were gathered using structured questionnaire, and swabs were taken from urethra and cervix of males and females, respectively. Specimens were inoculated on standard bacteriological culture media and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique following the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 21. The level of significance at p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The overall prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae was 23 (10.04%). High prevalence rates of N. gonorrhoeae were observed in females, urban residents and married ones. N. gonorrhoeae had shown statistically significant association with HIV positive, previous history of STIs, shisha users, Khat ( Catha edulis ) users, condom non-users and having more than two sexual partners. All isolates showed resistance to penicillin followed by tetracycline 16 (69.6%) and ciprofloxacin 8 (34.8%). Four isolates (7.4%) exhibited resistance to azithromycin with no resistance to ceftriaxone. Twelve (52.2%) isolates showed multidrug resistance (MDR). Conclusions The prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae and drug resistance, including multidrug resistance, was high in the study. Multiple factors were associated with the acquisition of N. gonorrhoeae . Therefore, behavioral change and communication should be strengthened.

Neisseria gonorrhea in Ethiopia, prevalence among STI suspected patients and its antimicrobial susceptibility: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Ultimately, 10 articles were included to evaluate the prevalence of N. gonorrhea among suspected STI patients in Ethiopia. All the included studies adopted a cross-sectional study design, with three of them specifically conducted in the Amhara region ( Tibebu et al, 2013 ; Mulu et al, 2015 ; Geremew et al, 2017 ; Yeshanew and Geremew, 2018 ), one in Oromia ( Sahile et al, 2020 ), two in SNNPR ( Hailemariam et al, 2013 ; Tadele et al, 2019 ; Zenebe et al, 2021 ), two in Addis Ababa ( Fentaw et al, 2020 ; Ayalew et al, 2022 ), one in Gambella ( Ali et al, 2016 ) and one in Tigray ( Kahsay et al, 2023 ). The prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant N. gonorrhea for specific antibacterial agents was reported in nine studies.…”

Prevalence of Gonorrhea and Associated Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among High School Students in Burao City, Somaliland

“…Size determination was performed by using a single population proportion formula with the following assumptions on the prevalence of Neisseria gonorrheae, which was 35% in Mekele town, Ethiopia [7] with a 95% confidence interval (CI), 5% marginal error, and 10% contingency for the nonresponse rate. where: n=needed sample size, Z=standard normal distribution value at 95% confidence interval=1.96 P =population proportion (35%), d = desired absolute precision (5%), where n = the needed sample size, Z𝛼/2 = 1.96 for a 95% confidence interval, P= population proportion (35%), d = margin of error between the sample and population (5%) = 0.5…”