Prevalence of Vaginal Candidiasis among pregnant women attending Ganesh Das Government Maternity and Child Health hospital, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

Abstract

Vaginal Candidiasis infections are highly frequent in developing countries and their prevalence varies according to the geographical area and environmental conditions. Background: The study was undertaken to study the prevalence of vaginal candidiasis among pregnant women attending a tertiary care hospital. Materials & Methods: A total of 152 clinical samples were collected from patients attending antenatal care. A portion of each sample was examined microscopically and the remaining samples were cultured on Sabouraud's dextrose agar plates and identified using HiCrome TM Candida Differential Agar (HiMedia). An antifungal sensitivity test was performed using Mueller Hinton agar supplemented with 2% dextrose with 0.5 ug/ml methylene blue and the antifungal drugs used were Amphotericin B, Fluconazole and Ketoconazole. Results: Out of the 152 samples, 110 (72.37%) were culture positive for Candida, 85 (55.92%) by KOH. Among the Candida species isolated, Candida albicans was the most recurrent (64.55%) cause of infection. The antifungal sensitivity profile was found to be satisfactory. Conclusion: Proper diagnosis of vaginal Candida infections should be made with laboratory confirmation followed by antifungal sensitivity tests to reduce antimicrobial resistance.