July-August 2015 · Volume 4 · Issue 4 Page 1142 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Samal R et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2015 Aug;4(4):1142-1147 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Research Article Prevalence and clinico-mycological profile of vulvovaginal candidiasis in a tertiary care hospital Rupal Samal 1 *, Anandraj Vaithy 2 , Dhananjay Srikanth Kotasthane 2 , Seetesh Ghose 1 INTRODUCTION Candidal vulvovaginitis or vaginal thrush is an infection of the vaginal mucosal membranes by Candida albicans. 1 Vulvovaginal candidiasis also termed as Moniliasis is caused by overgrowth of Candida yeast species in the vagina and is characterized by thick curd-like vaginal discharge, itching, and erythema. 1 Vulvovaginal candidiasis has been associated with considerable direct and indirect risk factors 2 like enhanced susceptibility to HIV infection and is being investigated for a potential relationship with obstetric morbidities. 3 Vaginal candidiasis is one of the most common vaginal infections among women in the fertile period and also the most frequent fungal disease ever reported. Until recently, the incidence of vaginal candidiasis was often taken ignored as an insignificant pathology among the female population. 4 In addition, many psychological and emotional stress related problems are also explored to be 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2 Department of Pathology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry, India Received: 10 June 2015 Accepted: 09 July 2015 *Correspondence: Dr. Rupal Samal, E-mail: rupalsamal1@yahoo.co.in Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Vulvovaginal candidiasis is an infectious condition caused by Candida and its species remains a global health morbidity among females especially in the reproductive age group. Vulvovaginal candidiasis has been associated with variable clinical profile and being a potential relationship with obstetric morbidities, the prevalence still remains high. The emergence of Non albicans species and its diagnosis at laboratory levels remains a challenge to the pathologists often warranting a supportive diagnostic modalities. The present study had been aimed to monitor the prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis in our tertiary care hospital and correlate the clinic-mycological profile with pathological findings on light microscopy. Methods: All patients presented with specific clinical symptoms of reproductive age group were included. With few exclusion criteria, the clinical history was obtained and high vaginal smears were collected and stained with Papanicalou stain and pathological interpretation was documented. In few available and indicated cases, culture procedure was performed. The data obtained were compared and correlated with clinical and laboratory diagnostic findings. Results: Among 125 cases studies, 62 positive cases for Candidiasis were reported with an approximate incidence of 50%. Further speciation identification showed C. albicans positivity in 45 cases and 17 cases for non albicans species. Women of second and third decade were predominantly affected by vulvovaginal candidiasis with abdominal pain and pruritis being a common clinical presentation. Conclusions: The prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis is on higher margin especially among reproductive age group. Clinical profile must be further correlated with laboratory data for speciation, thereby guiding in prompt and appropriate treatment modalities on best patient care. Keywords: Vulvovaginal candidiasis, Papanicalou stain, Non albicans, Inflammation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20150443