PowerPoint Contents
Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Enlarged view)Slide 1. Neisseria gonorrhoeae
This Gram stain of urethral exudate reveals several gram-negative diplococci within numerous neutrophils. When gram-negative diplococci are only outside the neutrophils, cultures of specimens from males will usually be positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae; in specimens of cervical secretions, however, a predominance of extracellular organisms indicates that many are nonpathogenic Neisseria species rather than N. gonorrhoeae.
Nongonoccal urethritis (Enlarged view)
Slide 2. Nongonoccal urethritis
This gram stain of urethral exudates reveals several neutrophils and urethral epithelial cells but no organisms. Chlamydia trachomatis and Ureaplasma urealyticum, the microbes causing most cases of nongonococcal urethritis, are not visible with Gram stain. Bacteria that ordinarily colonize the urethra, especially gram-positive cocci and bacilli, are often present in the urethral discharges of patients with nongonococcal urethritis, but are not considered pathogenic.
Slide 3. Vaginal fluid from a patient with cervicitis caused by Chlamydia trachomatis
This vaginal fluid contains mixed flora and many neutrophils, whose presence indicates inflammation. If clue cells, yeasts and trichomonads, are absent on a Gram stain and a wet mount, cervicitis, especially that caused by Chlamydia, should be suspected. Chlamydia trachomatis is not visible with Gram stain.
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