Testing for gonorrhoea should routinely include the pharynx

The profile of Kit Fairley by Tony Kirby1 highlighted his work on the potentially important role of kissing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in gonorrhoea transmission. The role of pharyngeal infection in gonorrhoea transmission, and in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, is poorly characterised, which represents an important knowledge gap.2 Intimate kissing is a risk factor for meningococcal carriage,3 indicating other Neisseria spp can transmit via this route. Pharyngeal gonococcal infection is predominantly asymptomatic, frequently undetected, and often exposed to suboptimal antibiotic concentrations in therapy;2,4 hence infection might be persistent