Vol. 3, Issue 12, Part E (2017)

Materials and Methods: High Vaginal Swabs (HVS) specimens were collected from 284 female between the ages of 15 and 35 years attending at Outpatient department of obstetrics and gynecology. The participants also completed a simple structured questionnaire assessing demographic data and risk factors of candidiasis. Each HVS specimen was cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) containing appropriate antibiotics to suppress bacterial growth and incubated aerobically at 37 °C. C. albicans was identified by conventional microbiological techniques.

Results: The overall prevalence rate of C. albicans in the HVS specimen of 284 young women studied was 37.7%, with the highest rate of 58.53% observed among the patients between the age group 33-35 while the lowest prevalence (12.5%) was among those between ages 14-16 years. Analysis of the participants’ response to the questionnaire indicates that C. albicans carrier rate may be associated with poor personal hygiene. Statistical analysis showed that prevalence rate of C. albicans among the patents from different locality was not significantly different in any of the regional sampled P<0.05.

Conclusion: This study indicates that the prevalence of vaginal candida colonization among female patents is highly significant. Predisposing factors such as the use of tight underwear, indiscriminate use of antibiotics should be avoided and the need for good and adequate personal hygiene should be encouraged.