Estimation of incidence of Aerobic vaginitis in women presenting with symptoms of vaginitis

Abstract

Vaginitis is found to be quite common among women who present in Gynecology OPD. Aerobic vaginitis is one of the causes of vaginitis which is typically marked by either an increased inflammatory response or by prominent signs of epithelial atrophy or both. The main aim of the study was to analyze the signs, symptoms and laboratory investigations among women presenting with symptoms of vaginitis. The study consisted of 155 cases of women presenting with symptoms of vaginitis. Brief general, systemic and detailed gynecological examinations were done and analysed. The incidence of Aerobic vaginitis in the study group was observed to be 7.74%. All cases of Aerobic vaginitis had unusual vaginal discharge as the presenting symptom. It was observed that 50% of cases had additional complaints of pruritus vulvae and vaginal irritation while 25% cases had complaints of dysuria and dyspareunia. pH of vaginal smears of these cases varied from 6 to 10, average being 7.75. On Gram staining, there were moderate to plenty number of pus cells and few to moderate number of epithelial cells. Organisms grown included Coagulase negative Staphylococci; Streptococci and Klebsiella species. Other causes of vaginitis included Candida - 14.19%, Trichomoniasis - 6.45% and Bacterial vaginosis 7.09%. The study concluded that the incidence of Aerobic vaginitis in the present study was less as compared to other studies. It is advisable to do culture with an antimicrobial sensitivity to find out the cause of vaginitis especially in cases presenting with recurrent symptoms of vaginitis. The type of antibiotics used to treat vaginitis must be very selective in order not to kill the beneficial bacteria that help in preservation of vaginal health and ecosystem.