ABSTRACT

Purpose:

The three most important factors causing infectious vaginitis are bacterial vaginosis, trichomoniasis and vulvovaginal candidiasis. The most frequent symptoms are vaginal discharge, itching and burning sensation

Methods:

The patient sample of our study consisted of 100 patients who had consulted us with the complaint of vaginal discharge. The age of patients, the number of partners during the last year, the method of contraception, smoking and alcohol consumption and the antibiotics intake of the patients were recorded. Along with the properties of vaginal discharge, the presence of itching, dysuria, abdominal pain, dyspareunia and postcoital bleeding was investigated. Vaginal discharge samples taken from the posterior fornix by two sterilized swabs were put into the transport medium. The fi rst swab was sent in EMB, blood agar and Sabouraud medium. The sample from the second swab was examined by direct microscopy.

Results:

Candida was found to be the infecting agent in 42 patients, G. vaginalis in 9, E. coli in 8, T. vaginalis in 2, S. aureus in 2 and Kleibsiella in 1, all having vaginal discharge. In 36 of the patients, no agents were grown from vaginal discharge samples and normal vaginal fl ora resulted from cultures. There were no statistically signifi cant differences between vaginal discharge causes and the patients’ age, the method of contraception, previous vaginitis incidents, specifi c complaints or the fi ndings obtained as a result of the physical examination (P>0.05).

Conclusion:

It is necessary to conduct more comprehensive studies and to use suitable evaluation methods to determine the actual prevalence of the factors causing vaginitis.