1887

Abstract

Isolation of is currently the gold standard for the definitive diagnosis of gonorrhoea and for use in medico-legal cases in the UK. Molecular detection methods are used increasingly but are untested as evidence of infection in a court of law. An isolate of was obtained from a child and an article of clothing from an adult male who was suspected of sexual abuse of the child. Biochemical and immunological tests were used to confirm the isolate as . Amplification by PCR using two targets, and III, was used both as further confirmation of the isolate and to detect the presence of gonococcal-specific DNA from the clothing. The relationship of the gonococcal DNA from the child and the adult was investigated using genotyping ( multi-antigen sequence typing; NG-MAST), including a nested PCR for the gene. Both samples were indistinguishable by NG-MAST and shared the same sequence type, 403. This is the first report of molecular detection and genotyping of on an article of clothing, which resulted in conviction of the man for sexual assault.

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2007-04-01
2024-12-13
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