Coinfection with chlamydia and gonorrhoea among pregnant women and bacterial vaginosis

Abstract

The role of sexual transmission of microorganisms in bacterial vaginosis (BV) is controversial. If sexual intercourse were a risk factor for BV, then we would expect that women with BV would also be coinfected with other sexually transmitted diseases (STD). We investigated the prevalence of STD among pregnant women a low socio-economic status with bacterial vaginosis in Indonesia. Among these women, 23.3% had at least one STD (chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis or trichomoniasis). Chlamydial infection was the most prevalent (19.5%), followed by trichomoniasis (3.8%), gonorrhoea (3.2%) and syphilis (0.4%). Compared to the rates of STD observed in a previous study of all pregnant women (with or without BV) in Indonesia, pregnant women with BV have more than a 2-fold increase in chlamydia (19.5% vs 8.2%) and a 6-fold increase in gonorrhoea (3.2% vs 0.5%). Because detection of BV by Gram stain is easy to perform and economical, detection of BV has potential as a prescreening marker for chlamydia and gonorrhoea among asymptomatic pregnant women of low socio-economic status in Indonesia. Further work is needed to evaluate the usefulness of BV as a prescreening marker for chlamydia and gonorrhoea.