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Gonorrhea remains to be a serious sexually transmitted disease. Increase of penicillinase- producing strains (PPNG) have been a serious problem in many parts of the world. The incidence of gonorrhea is difficult to estimate in Korea and antimicrobial susceptibility of the strains isolated from general hospital patients is not well known. In this study, an analysis was made on the trends of isolation of N. gonorrhea at Yonsei Medical, Center in 1975=84. Some of the recent isolates were tested for penicillinase production and antimicrobial susceptibility. Gonococci were isolated from 4.8%(340 patients) of genital specimens of Korean women and 3.3 %% (43 patients) of eye specimens. The number of isolation was greatest in 1975 and thereafter slight decrease was noted. From genital ´specimens, the highest isolation rate was noted in 20 to 29-year-old men and 30 to 39-year-old women. Majority (69.8 %) of the isolates from eye were from less than one-month-old infants. From Korean patients the first PPNG was isolated in 1979 and the proportion reached 38.6 % of all gonococci in 1983 and then slight decline to 19.5 % was noted in 1984. The MIC of penicillin G was s 2 /Lg/ml against non - PPNG and ? 4 yg/ml against PPNG. Regardless of the penicillinase production, the MIC of spectinomycin was 932 ug/ml and those of cefoperazone, cefotaxime and moxalactam were very low. To penicillin G, 13.6% of non-PPNG were susceptible and to tetracycline, 75 % of non-PPNG and 81.8% of PPNG were susceptible. All of the isolates were susceptible to spectinomycin and to the rest of antimicrobial agents tested. It is concluded that gonorrhea remains to be a relatively common infection in Korea, some pregnant women are not aware of their infection, PPNG is quite prevalent, and tetracycline- resistant strains are very common.
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