ECDC publishes external quality assessment scheme for Neisseria gonorrhoeae antimicrobial susceptibility testing

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has published its 2019 external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for Neisseria gonorrhoeae antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

In July 2019, 28 laboratories in 27 participating countries received 10 gonococcal isolates for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The highest level of categorical agreement, other than 100% production of betalactamase, was seen with spectinomycin (99.7%) and ceftriaxone (99.1%), while the lowest was with ciprofloxacin (91.1%). In comparison to previous distribution, the largest increase for categorical agreement was observed for azithromycin (92.5% in 2019 compared to 77.6% in 2018) and the largest decrease for ciprofloxacin (91.1% in 2019 compared to 98.1% in 2018).

Source: ECDC, 3 December 2021