PREVALENCE OF VAGINITIS IN FEMALES ATTENDING NATIONAL MEDICAL COLLEGE AND TEACHING HOSPITAL, BIRGUNJ, NEPAL

Vaginitis which include bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis and trichomo niasis are the major gynaecological problems associated with the females of reproductive age group. In this study a sincere effort has been put to find out the prevalence of common types of vaginitis in females attending the Gynaecological outpatient Depar tment of National medical college and teaching hospital, Birgunj from 1 st January, 2016 to 30 th June, 2016. A total of three hundred and thirty high vaginal swabs were collected from the females aged 15 to 49. Bacterial vaginosis was diagnosed by using the Amsel’s criteria. Vulvovaginal candidiasis was detected by culturing in Sabouraud Dextrose agar, while Candida albicans was confirmed by germ tube test. Trichomoniasis was detected by observing motile trophozoites under microscope. Out of 330 patients, 15 5 (46.96%) were positive for vaginitis. Among the 155 positive cases, bacterial vaginosis and vulvovaginal candidiasis were found in 81 (54.3%) and 43 (28.8%) cases respectively, while mixed infection was found in 18.1% cases. Among the positive cases vag initis was common in the age group 20 - 29 (56.12%) followed by the age group 30 - 39 (25.16%). Half of the females (51.7%) who had agriculture as their occupation had vaginitis. The infection rate was maximum (50.96%) among the females who are least educated, while the infection was least (20.60%) among the females having education above secondary level. As the infection vaginitis was high among the females of reproductive age group it is suggested to screen all reproductive aged females consistently for the i nfection vaginitis with right diagnosis and timely treatment.