Gonococcal Cultures

To the Editor. —  After reading the article by Feng et al (237:896, 1977), Wayne County Health Department Venereal Disease Clinic did a correlation study between the urethral swab and first-voided urine methods of obtaining gonococcal cultures on some male patients.A urethral swab specimen was taken for Gram stain and culture prior to obtaining the urine specimen. A sterile cotton-tipped applicator was dipped into approximately 20 ml of first-portion urine voided into a styrofoam cup (marked with pen on the outside at about 20 ml) and plated within ten minutes of voiding. One half of the same modified Thayer-Martin (TM) plate was streaked by each method per patient. Of 154 TM culture plates, 125 were negative by both methods, 28 were positive by both, and one was positive by the urine method but negative by the urethral swab method. One hundred twelve men had Gram-stained urethral smears in addition