Excessive vaginal discharge of reproductive age: common causative agents

Abstract

Background: Excessive vaginal discharge is a common health hazard of reproductive age women in South Asia including Bangladesh. It may be a physiologic or a pathological manifestation. A pathological vaginal discharge may be infective or non-infective. Objective: To find out the prevalence of infective vaginal discharge with their common causative agents in reproductive age. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive type of study conducted at Out Patient Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. The sample size was 245. Three vaginal swabs from each patient were collected to identify the causative pathogens by wet mount preparation of Gram staining and culture in different culture media. Descriptive analytic techniques were done using SPSS for window in computer. Results: A total of 245 patients, 142 (57.9%) were infective. Bacterial vaginosis was the most common (67, 27.3%) microbiological cause. Both bacterial vaginosis and candidiasis were predominant in the age group 25-35 years and trichomoniasis was common in younger women than older. Conclusion: Before prescribing antibiotics in patients having complain of excessive vaginal discharge, physicians should be confirmed the etiological agents by proper laboratory investigation.