Clinical and Bacteriological Study on Microbial Flora in the Vagina:(5) Variations of Vaginal Microbial Flora according to Pregnancy and Vaginitis

This study was done to assess the variations of vaginal microbial flora according to pregnancy and vaginitis. The normal adult flora was compared with that of women in pregnancy and of women with vaginitis.The subjects of the study were 218 non-pregnant healthy women, 219 pregnant women and 119 women with vaginitis who visited the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Central Hospital of Japanese National Railways between October 1977 and September 1981. By discharge samples obtained from the vaginal lateral wall, aerobe, anaerobe and fungi were cultured and isolated.Lactobacillus, Candida albicans and Propionibacterium were isolated significantly higher from pregnant women than from non-pregnant women. But E. coli, Peptococcus and Bacteroides were isolated significantly lower from pregnant women than from non-pregnant women. The isolation rate of Lactobacillus was significantly lower and that of Candida albicans was significantly higher from women with vaginitis than from women without vaginitis.No statistically significant differences have been shown in the isolation rate of microorganism during the stage of pregnancy.The isolation rate of Lactobacillus tended to be lower and that of Peptococcus, Peptostreptococcus and Bacteroides tended to be higher from women with non-specific vaginitis than from women with candida vaginitis.No significant differences of isolation rate of microorganism between non-pregnant healthy women and women with candida vaginitis. Lactobacilli were isolated significantly lower and Peptococcus, Peptostreptococcus, Veillonella and Bacteroides, significantly higher from women with nonspecific vaginitis than from non-pregnant healthy women.The conclusion from the above study was that variations of microbial flora according to pregnancy and vaginitis (especially non-specific vaginitis) were recognized.