Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gonorrhoea is on the rise: between 2021 and 2022, a 50% and a 33% increase in diagnoses was seen, respectively, in England and the Netherlands. A concurrent rise in gonococcal keratoconjunctivitis (GKC) is a serious concern due to the potentially devastating visual complications.
METHODS: This is a retrospective case series of adult GKC from two Western European tertiary ophthalmology centres between 2017 and July 2023. The clinical features, ocular complications and antimicrobial susceptibilities are reported within.
RESULTS: An increased incidence was recorded at both centres, with 11 confirmed cases in the first 7 months of 2023, compared with ≤3 per year in 2017-2022.
CONCLUSION: The notable increase of GKC cases in our centres in 2023 may indicate a rise across Western Europe. Enhanced, sustained, national surveillance of GKC is essential to establish incidence and antimicrobial susceptibility, to inform treatment guidelines and guide appropriate public health response.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 788-792 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | British Journal of Ophthalmology |
| Volume | 108 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 16 Feb 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 May 2024 |
Keywords
- Adult
- Aged
- Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use
- Europe/epidemiology
- Eye Infections, Bacterial/epidemiology
- Female
- Gonorrhea/epidemiology
- Humans
- Incidence
- Keratoconjunctivitis/epidemiology
- Male
- Microbial Sensitivity Tests
- Middle Aged
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae/drug effects
- Retrospective Studies
- Tertiary Care Centers/statistics & numerical data
- Young Adult