Polyester sponge swabs to facilitate examination for genital infection in women.

The diagnostic problem Gonorrhoea in women is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Its non-specific, often minimal, features and the relatively inaccessible sites of infection cause problems for the clinician, and the delicacy of the pathogen, the occurrence of a rich commensal flora, and pH extremes create severe difficulties for the bacteriologist. Urethral, cervical, and if necessary, rectal specimens obtained by standard methods and examined by skilled laboratory staff may be expected to yield negative results at the first attendance in a third of infected female patients, and in as many as one case in ten diagnosis is not made until the third examination (Catterall, 1970). Recent attempts to improve diagnostic methods have been largely con- cerned with laboratory techniques: improved culture media (e.g. Seth, 1970), rapid fluorescent antibody staining (Thin, 1970), and serological tests The most promising of these are the various immuno-fluorescence techniques, but these require specialized facilities and, although results may be obtained relatively quickly, they are not usually available at the first visit within an acceptable waiting period. Furthermore, they cannot replace conven- tional culture procedures because of the need for sensitivity testing and the identification of other potential pathogens. In the work to be described, an attempt was made to facilitate examination and diagnosis by the use of polyester sponge swabs for col- lecting specimens of genital secretions.