Prevalence of Bacterial Vaginosis in Diabetic pregnant women

Abstract

Bacterial vaginosis (BV), previously known as "Non-specific vaginitis," is currently the most prevalent form of vaginal infections among women in the reproductive age group. It is characterized by significant reduction of Lactobacilli and the predominance of anaerobic organisms like Bacteroids and Mobiluncus species, together with Mycoplasma and Gardnerella vaginalis. Bacterial vaginosis is not considered a serious disease entity by itself, but it appears to be a risk factor for the occurrence of many complications including upper genital tract infections, postoperative infections, and more seriously, adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm labour, premature rupture of membranes, chorioamnionitis and postpartum endometritis. A chief complaint of the disease is the increase of vaginal discharge that has a fishy odor especially after alkalinization (coitus, menstrual period). Diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis clinically done by presence of at least 3 of 4 clinical criteria described by Hiller and Holmes (1990), including: 1- Vaginal pH> 4.5. 2- A grey malodor homogenous vaginal discharge. 3- The presence of clue cells in wet mount preparation of vaginal fluid. 4- Positive amine test, in which a fishy odor is released after addition of 10% KOH to the vaginal fluid. The laboratory diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis based mainly on Gram staining of vaginal discharge as it is easy to perform, quick to screen and liable to store for further confirmation (Nugent eta!., 1991) in addition it has a good correlation with the clinical diagnosis of the disease (Spiegel eta!., 1983). • Nugent et a!. (1991), used a new scoring system for Gram stained vaginal smear, the results of Gram stain diagnosis was classified either to normal cases with score (0-3), intermediate cases with score (4-6), and bacterial vaginosis cases with score (7-10).