Abstract

Thirty-six strains of penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) were detected among 794 prostitutes between October 1981 and May 1982 in Surabaya, Indonesia. The high prevalence of PPNG strains among the high-class prostitutes and a lower prevalence among the low-class suggest that regular mass treatment for syphilis did not play an important role in the emergence and spread of PPNG; the importation of PPNG strains from abroad is more likely to have been responsible.