Assessment of vaginal health before and after treatment with vaginal suppository containing Lactiplantibacillus pentosus KCA1

Abstract

Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) is a polymicrobial syndrome characterized by a shift in the vaginal flora from a predominant population of Lactobacilli to a replacement with anaerobes. Vaginal suppositories containing L. pentosus KCA1 were formulated using glycerol-gelatin base. A prospective and follow-up community-based study was done. Vaginal samples were collected from women of reproductive age (non-pregnant) between 18-45 years. A total of 360 women both symptomatic and asymptomatic provided High Vaginal Swabs (HVS) for BV screening using Nugent scoring method and 65 (18.1 %) participants were identified as having BV by microscopy with 45 (12.5 %) of them being consistent with BV (Nugent score of 7-10) and twenty (5.56 %) being intermediate with BV (Nugent score of 4-6). A baseline and intervention questionnaire were administered to the participants. Majority (81.5 %) of the participants affirmed that they have not heard about BV. Social burden reveals that 90.8 % affirmed that they feel frustrated, having BV symptoms recur after treatment and 83.1 % admitted that BV symptoms makes them feel embarrassed, ashamed and dirty. Majority (58.8 %) claimed that the state of their reproductive health is ‘very good’ four weeks after treatment, while 88.2 % of the participants rated their reproductive health after four weeks of treatment to be ‘somewhat better than now than a year ago’. In conclusion, it was revealed that BV has impact on the social status and quality of life of the participants except on their economic status. Knowledge on the awareness of BV among women of reproductive age is essential.