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To the Editor.—There is a definite need for a rapid, simple screening test for suspected gonorrheal urethritis in clinical practice.In 1966, Pedersen and Kelly1 first evaluated an impregnated paper strip, hereafter referred to as the "biochemical" or "strip" test, that involved the identification of cytochrome oxidase, an enzyme characteristic of Neisseria and Pseudomonas. Patho-Tec-Co paper is impregnated with dimethyl phenylenediamine and 1-naphthol. These reagents turn bright blue when exposed to cytochrome oxidase.The urethral discharge was smeared on to a sterile glass slide for gram-staining. Patients whose gram stains demonstrated intracellular, gram-negative diplococci, with contiguous sides, appearing flattened or slightly concave were considered to have gonorrhea—ie, they had "positive" slides.1,2 Only those patients with "negative" slides had their urethral discharges cultured by standard technique on blood agar and Thayer-Martin media under carbon dioxide tension.2,3 All discharges were also collected on the paper strip, as previously |
