Sampling for vaginal candidosis: how good is it?

Area of Science:

• Medical Microbiology
• Clinical Diagnostics
• Genitourinary Medicine

Background:

• Vaginal candidosis is a common condition requiring effective diagnostic methods.
• Genitourinary medicine departments manage diverse patient populations with potential infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of vaginal candidosis in patients attending a genitourinary medicine department.
• To evaluate the utility of microscopy in diagnosing vaginal candidosis.
• To identify the most sensitive sample site for microbiological diagnosis.

Main Methods:

• Screening of patients attending a genitourinary medicine clinic for vaginal candidosis.
• Microscopic examination of Gram-stained vaginal smears for diagnosis.
• Vaginal cultures performed on samples from different anatomical sites (anterior fornix, left lateral vaginal wall).

Main Results:

• A 26.3% positive rate for vaginal candidosis was observed in the studied population.
• Microscopy detected 64.8% of symptomatic cases, proving useful for early diagnosis.
• The anterior fornix was the most sensitive site for culture diagnosis (positive predictive value 0.88), while the left lateral vaginal wall was least sensitive (0.81).

Conclusions:

• Vaginal candidosis screening in genitourinary medicine settings reveals significant prevalence.
• Gram-stained microscopy is a valuable tool for the rapid diagnosis of symptomatic vaginal candidosis.
• Anatomical site selection is crucial for optimizing the sensitivity of culture-based diagnosis of vaginal candidosis.