Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (‎EGASP)‎: surveillance report 2023

Table of Contents

• Contents 5
• Acknowledgments 6
• Abbreviations 11
• 1. Background 13
• Box 1. Key Points 13
• 1.1 Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP) continues to collect data on Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), providing quality assured AST data f 14
• 1.2 Objectives The objectives of EGASP are as follows: 14
• 2. Methods 15
• 2.1 Participating countries and surveillance settings In 2023, 38 sentinel sites and 17 laboratories were active, a substantial increase from 23 sites and 10 laboratories in 2022. Below is a summary of existing and new sentinel EGASP sites. 15
• 2.2 Patient enrolment EGASP sentinel clinics are selected from outpatient facilities or clinics specializing in sexual health and STIs. Eligible health facilities must be able to collect, store and transport specimens, maintain NG viability and collect a 16
• 2.3 Specimen collection and testing procedures Clinical urethral samples are collected using appropriate swabs. The urethral swabs are streaked onto an agar plate, and inoculated agar plates are incubated. After culture incubation, plates in some sentine 16
• 2.4 Standardized data management 17
• 2.5 Data validation 17
• 2.6 Data analysis Data was downloaded from the EGASP module in the GLASS IT platform. Analysis for this report was conducted using R.4.1.1 statistical package. The results are presented based on (1) demographic, behavioural and clinical data from suspec 18
• 3. Results 19
• 3.1 Global overview During 2023 data from 3498 urethritis episodes in male patients were reported from nine EGASP-participating countries. Of these, 786 (22%) were from The Philippines, 762 (22%) from Thailand, 528 (15%) from South Africa, 423 (12%) fro 19
• 3.2 Descriptive analysis 20
• 3.2.1 Patient’s characteristics and exposure factors 20
• 3.2.2 Laboratory data 23
• 3.2.3 AST results 23
• 3.2.4 Antimicrobial resistance testing in Cambodia 29
• 3.2.5 Antimicrobial susceptibility testing in Viet Nam 31
• 3.2.6 Gonorrhoea treatment 33
• 3.2.7 Outcomes and treatment follow-up 33
• 4. Conclusions 34
• References 35
• Annex 1. Treatments used for EGASP surveillance 36
• Annex 2. Outcome of treatment and follow-up for EGASP surveillance 44