BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS;

Frequency of asymptomatic pregnant women

Abstract

Objective: To establish the frequency of bacterial vaginosis in asymptomatic pregnant women. Study design: Cross
st Sectional Descriptive study. Setting: Private tertiary care hospital of Larkana. Period: 1 June 2011 to 31st December 2011. Material
and methods: 120 asymptomatic pregnant women at 14-28 weeks of gestation were included in this study after fulfilling selection
criteria. A high vaginal swab stick was dipped into secretion through speculum and slides were made and sent to attached laboratory for
clue cells. Vaginal PH was tested with PH paper (change in color noted). Whiff test was performed by adding two drops of KOH on
posterior blade of speculum for fishy odour. The diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis was made with the help of Amsel’s criteria. Presence of
>3 signs was labeled as bacterial vaginosis positive. Data analysis was done on statistical package of social science (SPSS version 13).
Results: Although total 120 patients who were recruited in our study, all did not present with any symptom of vaginal discharge, but the
frequency of pregnant women having Bacterial Vaginosis was quite high. A total of 77 (64.1%) patients discovered positive for bacterial
vaginosis, while only 43 (35.8%) patient’s samples were negative for bacterial vaginosis. The mean age of our patients was 28.56 ±3.71
years, while mean gestational age was 24.65 ±2.34 weeks. Homogenous milky discharge was observed in total 65 (54.16 %) patients,
while in rest of patients, we did not detect any discharge. Bacterial Vaginosis was more prevalent in women belonging to low
socioeconomic group and who had low literacy rate. Conclusions: The frequency of bacterial vaginosis was found to be very high among
asymptomatic pregnant women. Timely diagnosis can be helpful in treating complications related with it.