Due to the short incubation period of gonorrhea and the persistence of antibodies for years, a serological test cannot be used as the only basis for diagnosis of acute cases or for screening purposes. Major potential fields for application are the diagnosis of complicated gonococcal infections, casefinding in "high risk" groups and sero-epidemiological studies in developing countries. Serological tests using gonococcal pili antigen seem to be superior with regard to specificity.