Publicação: Increased vaginal pH in Ugandan women: What does it indicate?
Carregando...
Data
2016-08-01
Orientador
Coorientador
Pós-graduação
Curso de graduação
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Editor
Tipo
Artigo
Direito de acesso
Acesso aberto
Resumo
Abnormal vaginal flora (AVF),indicative of bacterial vaginosis (BV) and/or aerobic vaginitis (AV),amongst other abnormalities,is a risk factor for multiple complications in pregnant as well as non-pregnant women. Screening for such conditions could help prevent these complications. Can self-testing for increased vaginal pH reliably detect BV and other high-riskmicroflora types,and is this more accurate than performing Gram stain-based Nugent score when screening for high-risk microflora? A total of 344 women presenting at different outpatient clinics in Mulago Hospital and Mbuikwe Outpatient clinics in Kampala,Uganda,were asked to test themselves by introducing a gloved finger into the vagina and smearing it on a microscopy slide,on which a pH strip was attached. Self-assessed categories of normal (pH 3.6-4.4),intermediate (4.5-4.7) or high pH (>4.7) were compared with demographic and with centralised microscopic data,both in air-dried rehydrated wet mounts (Femicare),as well as in Gram-stained specimens (Nugent). AVF was present in 38 %,BV in 25 % and AV in 11 % of patients. High pH and AVF is correlated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),infertility,frequent sex,but not vaginal douching. Screening for raised pH detects 90 % of AVF cases,but would require testing over half of the population. As AV and non-infectious conditions are frequent in women with AVF and high pH,Nugent score alone is an insufficient technique to screen women for a high-risk vaginal microflora,especially in infertile and HIV-infected women.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Idioma
Inglês
Como citar
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, v. 35, n. 8, p. 1297-1303, 2016.
