The best way to detect infections like chlamydia, gonorrhoea or Mycoplasma genitalium, is by ussing a PCR.
They detecta the DNA of the bacteria and that’s why they are so sensitive
After someone gets antibiotics, and especially in those bacterias who are known to be resistant, like gonorrhea, it’s important to do a follow-up test, but beware, you need to be cautious and wait a while.
The reason is that if you do a gonorrhea follow-up test too early, the PCR machine may still detect remnants of dead bacteria’s DNA and give you a positive results – a false positive.
In this study from a conference last month, they looked for the gonorrhea genes EVERY DAY FOLLOWING THE ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT until it completely disappeared.
Everyone in the study had flushed out the DNA by day 17, and many even eariler.
I always say to wait a month after treatment, to give ample time for dead bacteria to be cleaned up, and not get into false positives, which are tantermount to chasing a ghost and have nothing to do with a persistent infection.
Time-to-clearance of N. gonorrhoeae (NG) RNA at the pharynx following treatment with ceftriaxone and azithromycin
Barbee L, Soge O, Khosropour C, LeClaire A, Golden M. University Of Washington, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Seattle, USA, Public Health – Seattle & King County HIV/STD Program, Seattle, USA, University of Washington, Department of Global Health,Seattle, United States, University of Washington, Department of Epidemiology, Seattle, United States. Congreso mundial de las ITS & VIH 24 a 26 de julio de 2023, Chicago, Illinois, EEUU, abstracto número 243