Gonorrhea laboratory tests
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Laboratory tests
Several laboratory tests are available to diagnose gonorrhea. A doctor or nurse can obtain a sample for testing from the parts of the body likely to be infected (cervix, urethra, rectum, or throat) and send the sample to a laboratory for analysis. Gonorrhea that is present in the cervix or urethra can be diagnosed in a laboratory by testing a urine sample.
Gonorrhea can be quickly identified by staining a sample of tissue or discharge and then looking at it under a microscope. This is called a gram stain. Although this method is fast, it is not the most certain. Gram stain tests used to diagnose gonorrhea include:
- Cervical gram stain in women
- Gram stain of urethral discharge in men
- Joint fluid gram stain
Cultures (cells that grow in a lab dish) provide absolute proof of infection. Generally, samples for a culture are taken from the cervix, vagina, urethra, anus, or throat. Cultures can provide a preliminary diagnosis often within 24 hours and a confirmed diagnosis within 72 hours. Cultures used to diagnose gonorrhea include:
- Endocervical culture in women
- Urethral discharge culture in men
- Throat swab culture in both men and women
- Rectal culture in both men and women
- Culture of joint fluid
- Blood cultures
DNA tests are especially useful as a screening test. They included the ligase chain reaction (LCR) test. DNA tests are quicker than cultures. Such tests can be performed on urine samples, which are a lot easier to collect than samples from the genital area.
Gallery
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![Image depicts the morphologic appearance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae colonies after having grown for a period of 24 hours on GC media base agar supplemented with IsoVitaleX (50X mag). GC media base agar is used in the isolation of N. gonorrhoeae bacteria, and is often used in conjunction with various antibiotics, in order to determine N. gonorrhoeae antimicrobial sensitivity/selectivity. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/images/0/03/Gonorrhea08.jpeg)
Image depicts the morphologic appearance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae colonies after having grown for a period of 24 hours on GC media base agar supplemented with IsoVitaleX (50X mag). GC media base agar is used in the isolation of N. gonorrhoeae bacteria, and is often used in conjunction with various antibiotics, in order to determine N. gonorrhoeae antimicrobial sensitivity/selectivity. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]
![Image depicts the morphologic appearance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae colonies after having grown for a period of 24 hours on GC media base agar supplemented with IsoVitaleX (50X mag). GC media base agar is used in the isolation of N. gonorrhoeae bacteria, and is often used in conjunction with various antibiotics, in order to determine N. gonorrhoeae antimicrobial sensitivity/selectivity. From Public Health Image Library (PHIL). [1]](/index.php/File:Gonorrhea08.jpeg)