[Preliminary results of the Italian epidemiological study on vulvo-vaginitis]

The aim of this work was to evaluate the prevalence of symptomatic vulvo-vaginal infections among the Italian female population and the diagnostic approach of 158 Italian gynaecologists.

A total of 1644 patients were enrolled in this survey. A presumed diagnosis of vulvovaginal infection was made according to specific clinical and laboratory criteria (pH e sniff test) in 902 (55.4%) cases, whereas a definitive diagnosis was made in 1439 (87.5%) cases. The definitive diagnoses were as follows: 844 (51.3%) vulvovaginal mycosis, 327 (19.9%) bacterial vaginosis, 110 (6.7%) trichomonal infection, 100 (6.1%) aspecific bacterial vaginitis, 58 (3.5%) non-infectious vaginitis. As assessed by typing, mycosis were mainly due to Candida albicans infections in 459 cases (78%).

From the survey it is possible to infer that: 1) only thanks to the employed microbiological diagnostic tests a definitive diagnosis was made in 702 patients without a previous presumed diagnosis; 2) mycotic infections were underestimated; 3) Candida albicans was the most common species causing female low genital tract mycotic infections. In conclusion, these data underline the importance of laboratory examinations in the diagnosis of low genital tract infections for the ambulatory gynaecological practice.