Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May 5;8(2):167-177.
doi: 10.3934/microbiol.2022014. eCollection 2022.

A study on vaginitis among pregnant and non-pregnant females in Alexandria, Egypt: An unexpected high rate of mixed vaginal infection

Sherine Mohamed Shawaky  1 , Mariam Majed Ali Al Shammari  1 , Manal Shafik Sewelliam  2 , Abeer Abd El Rahim Ghazal  1 , Ahmed Noby Amer  3
Affiliations

A study on vaginitis among pregnant and non-pregnant females in Alexandria, Egypt: An unexpected high rate of mixed vaginal infection

Sherine Mohamed Shawaky et al. AIMS Microbiol. .

Abstract

Background: Many infectious and noninfectious triggers lead to inflammation of the vagina.

Aim: We investigated the prevalence of causative vaginitis microorganisms in 516 pregnant and nonpregnant female volunteers. Vaginal samples were examined microscopically, cultured and tested for different pathogens.

Results: Of the participants, 310 (60.1%) were pregnant, whereas 206 (39.9%) were nonpregnant. Using Amsel's criteria and Nugent's scores, bacterial vaginosis (BV) was diagnosed in 59.1%, and the prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) was 50.2% in the population. Candida infections were significantly higher in nonpregnant females (p value ≤ 0.01), and 24% of females had mixed infections. The most common mixed infection was BV and Candida spp., detected in 21% of the cases.

Conclusions: Bacterial vaginosis is the most common cause of vaginitis. We observed that 24% of females experienced mixed infections, and Candida albicans was the most common fungal species causing VVC. Trichomonas vaginalis prevalence was underestimated using wet mounts.

Keywords: Amsel's criteria; Gardnerella vaginalis; Nugent's scores; Trichomonas vaginalis; bacterial vaginosis; candidiasis; mixed vaginal infections.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Omosa-Manyonyi GS, Koyio LN, Mwangi EW, et al. Inadequacies in service delivery for the diagnosis and treatment of vaginitis and vaginosis in Nairobi, Kenya. Int J STD AIDS. 2022;5:584–596. doi: 10.1177/09564624221087533. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Loveless M, Myint O. Vulvovaginitis-presentation of more common problems in pediatric and adolescent gynecology. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2018;48:14–27. doi: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2017.08.014. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Paladine HL, Desai UA. Vaginitis: diagnosis and treatment. Am Fam Physician. 2018;97:321–329. Available from: https://www.aafp.org/afp/2018/0301/p321.html. - PubMed
    1. Saraf VS, Sheikh SA, Ahmad A, et al. Vaginal microbiome: Normalcy vs dysbiosis. Arch Microbiol. 2021;203:3793–3802. doi: 10.1007/s00203-021-02414-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Onderdonk AB, Delaney ML, Fichorova RN. The human microbiome during bacterial vaginosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2016;29:223–238. doi: 10.1128/CMR.00075-15. - DOI - PMC - PubMed