Serovar specific immunity to Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Does it exist?

Abstract

Objective - To determine whether the host immune response to gonorrhoea provides limited serovar specific protection from reinfection. Subjects - 508 episodes of gonorrhoea diagnosed at a city centre genitourinary medicine clinic including 22 patients with multiple infections over a 4 year period. Methods - Patients with recurrent gonococcal infection were analysed with respect to the initial and subsequent serovars isolated. Results-No significant difference was seen in the prevalence of serovars isolated following a repeat infection compared with those without repeat infections. The site of the initial infection did not appear to influence the subsequent serovar isolated. Conclusion - We found no evidence of serovar specific immunity in our population. It remains possible that populations with a higher prevalence of gonorrhoea and more frequent infections may have a quantitatively greater immune response.