Diagnosis of Gonorrhea

To the Editor.— Having read "Laboratory Diagnosis in the Problem of Suspected Gonococcal Infection" by Nicholas B. Riccardi, MD, and Yehudi M. Felman, MD (242:2703, 1979), in view of recent articles (242:1653, 1979;242:1656, 1979) on Neisseria meningitidis as a causative agent of urethritis, epididymitis, and acute pelvic inflammatory disease, we are concerned about the final paragraph, which states that sugar fermentation tests are necessary only in oral infection. There is still a stigma attached to gonococcal infection, and when reporting gonorrhea, we owe the physician and patient more than a presumptive diagnosis. Neisseria lactamica has also been found in the urethra and in the male anal canal. 1 Some Moraxella will grow on gonorrhea selective media and are oxidase positive, and an inexperienced observer can easily confuse M osloensis with Gram-negative diplococci on a Gram's stain. We advocate the JEMBEC (John E. Martin Biological Environmental Chamber) system for culture and