Association between city-level sociodemographic and health factors and the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea in the US, 2000–2019: a spatial–temporal modeling study

The prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea (AMR) gonorrhea varies across populations, but little is known about the impact of demographic, socioeconomic, and health factors on the burden. A study using data from the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP) found that 16.5%, 13.7%, and 22.2% of isolates had resistance to ciprofloxacin, penicillin, and tetracycline. Denser populations, West, Southeast, HIV prevalence, and higher incidence of gonorrhea were associated with higher prevalence of these drugs. The study suggests that geographic location and certain population-level characteristics could provide insight into the county-level risk of AMR gonorrhea, potentially guiding the expansion of surveillance systems or drug susceptibility testing in areas with increased prevalence.