Molecular epidemiology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae clinical isolates in Reunion and Mayotte.

Epidemiological surveillance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae has become a major issue, due to the increasing number of cases and the emergence of multidrug-resistant clinical isolates.1 However, little is known about the epidemiology of N. gonorrhoeae in the Indian Ocean. We conducted a retrospective study between 20 October 2016 and 10 April 2017 to characterise the main circulating genotypes of N. gonorrhoeae and their resistance profiles on two islands in the Indian Ocean, Reunion and Mayotte. These islands are part of French overseas territories, and are populated by approximately 860 000 and 250 000 inhabitants, respectively. In total, 206  N. gonorrhoeae isolates were obtained within a network of 40 private and hospital laboratories, and 88 viable isolates (72 from Reunion and 16 from Mayotte) were selected at random for further microbiological and molecular investigations. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined for six antibiotics using E-tests (Biomerieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France) and interpreted according to European Committee …