Detection of predefined bacterial species in the Vaginal Microbiota in SARS-COV-2-Positive Patients

Abstract

Abstract Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be found in the vagina of infected women remains unclear; moreover, the impact of the virus on the normal vaginal microbiota is not known. The aim of our study was to identify the vaginal presence of SARS-CoV-2 and detection of predefined bacterial species changes in the vaginal flora of women that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Materials and Methods. This prospective study included 40 women, aged 24-47 years, tested for SARS-CoV-2 via nasopharyngeal and vaginal culture (TaqPath ™COVID-19 CE-IVD RT-PCR), and vaginally tested for changes in the vaginal microbiota using the Femoflor® 16 REAL-TIME PCR Detection Kit. Results. No one of women in this study was tested positive for vaginal presence of SARS-CoV-2. Three (7.5%) women with sexually transmitted disease were excluded. Irregularities were observed in the vaginal microbiota of 8 (21.6%) out of 37 patients included in the study: 3 (8.1%) from the SARS-CoV-2-positive group and 5 (13.5%) from the SARS-CoV-2-negative group. The remaining 29 (78.4%) women had normal vaginal flora; lactobacilli were found to be dominant. Although results revealed a difference in the vaginal microbiota between the two groups, the differences were not statistically significant (p ≥ 0.05). Conclusions. Even though it remains unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 invades the vagina of infected women, there is no significant evidence to suggest that it causes a more frequent disturbance in the vaginal microbiota of infected women compared to that in healthy women.