Asymptomatic male and female gonorrhoea

Abstract

Three hundred and ninety nine patients attending the out patient clinic of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Rigshospital, Copenhagen, for various venereal complaints were examined during a three month trial. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was found in 75 female and 89 male patients. 43 women (57%) and 13 men (15%) were asymptomatic at the first visit. The duration of the asymptomatic period exceeded 3 weeks in 25 female (33%) and 7 male (8%) patients. The asymptomatic period in the male group varied from 15 to 90 days and from 4 to 180 days in the females. The majority of the patients with asymptomatic gonorrhoea had been exposed to a sexual contact with proven gonococcal infection, thus emphasizing the importance of contact investigation.