Conventional and Molecular Identification, Incidence and Species Distribution of Candida Associated with Vaginal Candidiasis among Women Attending Gynecological Clinic at Duhok Province, Kurdistan – Iraq

Vaginal Candidiasis is one of the most common sources of inflammation of the vagina in patient women attending gynecological clinics. The present study aimed to isolate and identify the Candida species in pregnant and non-pregnant women of different age groups attending maternity hospitals at Duhok, Iraq, using conventional and molecular methods. Vaginal swab samples were collected from 385 women aged 15-60 years with suspected vulvovaginal candidiasis. All swab samples were initially cultured on Sabouraud's dextrose agar (SDA) supplemented with 0.05% (Weight/Volume) chloramphenicol and incubated at 37ºC for 48 hours. For the presumptive identification of Candida species, all growing colonies were sub-cultured on Harlequin TM Candida Chromogenic agar (CHROM agar Company, Acumedia Neogen, UK) incubated at 35ºC for 48 hours. Molecular identification was achieved by sequencing the ITS1 and ITS4 regions of rDNA. Four Candida species were identified by both conventional and molecular methods. Based on PCR detection, C. albicans (47%) was the most common species, followed by C. glabrata (36.2%), then C. krusei (7.4%) while C. tropicalis (2.2%) showed the least incidence. Vaginal candidiasis is a common problem among women in Duhok city and was more common in age groups of 15-36 years of both pregnant and non-pregnant women. Sensitive Chromogenic agar for detection of pecies showed 91.7%, while the PCR-based technique was 97.49%.