ABSTRACT
Background: The number of gonorrhoea infections continue to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the current restrictions in place patients are encouraged to test online. Obtaining culture is a crucial part of gonorrhoea management and not possible online. When patients attend clinics it is imperative to ensure contact is brief and examinations are conducted only if deemed necessary. Two clinics collaborated on reviewing the practice of taking swabs for culture either performed by the clinician or the patient. Site 1 maintained their pre-COVID practice of taking endo-cervical swabs for culture and Site 2 switched to patient taken vulvovaginal cultures to reduce patient contact .The aim of this review was to determine whether either method of sampling affected the culture result. Method: A retrospective review of the electronic patient records (EPR) was conducted and all female patients with a positive gonorrhoea diagnosis were selected. The audited period covered was June 2020-November 2020. Forty patients were selected in total with 20 from each site. The following were recorded demographics, patient taken or clinician taken samples, sites which tested positive, culture results, treatment, antibiotic sensitivities and test of cure. Results: Of the forty patients audited 97.5% (39/40) were heterosexual and 2.5% (1/40) bisexual. All GC positive samples had culture taken prior to treatment. 47.5% (19/40) were clinician taken endo-cervical cultures. 52.5% (21/40) self-taken VVS. All the endo-cervical swabs were taken at GU site 1 and the vulvovaginal swabs at site 2 From the clinician taken samples 63% (12/19) had no growth and only 37% ( 7/19) moderate growth. In the self-taken samples, 71% (15/40) had no growth, 24% (5/21) had a moderate growth and 5% (1/21) had scanty growth of GC. 97.5% (39/40) cases received Ceftriaxone. 2.5% (1/40) given ciprofloxacin. 70% (28/40) of the patients had a TOC done after 2wks, and only 30% (12/40) failed to return. All samples were sensitive to first line GC treatment. Conclusion: There was no significant difference between the clinician and patient taken swabs for culture. Given the current climate and the need to reduce risks of the coronavirus, patient taken cultures should be encouraged.