DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i07.046

Pages: 2732-2735

Pregnant women can develop increased vaginal discharge leading to various complications such as abortions, premature birth and low birth weight. One of the reasons for the increased vaginal discharge is the presence of fungal infections. The present study was done to study the prevalence of vaginal fungal infection among pregnant women. Vaginal swabs were collated from the pregnant and non-pregnant women with the symptoms of vaginal infection. One swab was used for the preparation of the wet mount and thin smear on the microscopic slide for the gram staining. The other swab was inoculated under aseptic precautions on Sabouraud Dextrose agar (SDA) and incubated at 37o C for 24 to 72 hours. Out of 188 patients examined, 120 were pregnant patients and 68 were non-pregnant woman. In case of pregnant patients, 51 (43.5%) were shown to had positive fungal infections. While in non-pregnant patients, 24 (35.2%) were shown to had positive fungal infections. Candida albicans was present in 93.4% of the positive patients, while yeast other than candida albicans was present in 6.6% of samples. As the pregnant woman showing more positive yeast infections, early detection and early diagnosis may improve the clinical condition of the pregnant women.