BRIDGING OF NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE ACROSS DIVERSE SEXUAL NETWORKS IN THE HIV PREP ERA

Abstract

Despite ‘best effort’ public health measures, the incidence of gonorrhoea is increasing in many countries. Recently, whole genome sequencing (WGS) has been used to investigate transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, including antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) lineages, but to date, most studies have not combined genomic data with detailed patient-level information on sexual behaviour to define the extent of transmission across population subgroups (‘bridging’). We performed an observational study and undertook WGS and bioinformatic analysis on all cultured clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoeae in the state of Victoria, Australia, from January to December 2017. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing w..