Publication:

Prevalence of asymptomatic and symptomatic bacterial vaginosis in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in a tertiary care rural hospital

Background Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common lower genital tract conditions, occurring in 35% of women attending sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics, 15% to 20% of pregnant women, and 5% to 15% of women attending gynaecology clinic. It has been associated with serious pregnancy complications, including premature rupture of the membranes, preterm delivery and postpartum endometritis. The diagnosis of BV is usually based on clinical criteria including homogeneous vaginal discharge, an elevated vaginal pH, the presence of clue cells, and an amine odour. Objective of this study was to study the prevalence of asymptomatic and symptomatic BV in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in a tertiary care rural teaching hospital.

Methods Sample size of 301 patients over 6 months study duration in an observational cross sectioned prospective type of study. An unfixed vaginal smear was collected from pregnant women and sent to microbiology for staining and fixing and diagnosis was established.

Results The age range in pregnant women enrolled was 18 to 42 with mean age 26.10 years. As per the Nugent score criteria, 68 (23%) women tested positive for BV (Nugent score 7-10) and 77 (25%) had an intermediate score (Nugent score 4-6). While in 156 (52%) pregnant women’s Nugent score was in between 0-3 indicating no BV but 10% cases amongst these were showing presence of fungal elements mainly budding yeast cells with or without hyphae. In only 53% of cases of BV characteristic clue cells were present. In this study 69% cases of BV were observed in multigravida while 31% were present in primigravida.

Conclusions Screening of asymptomatic pregnant women’s by taking vaginal swab and evaluating gram smear using Nugent score system will play vital role early diagnosis of reproductive tract infections.