Etiological spectrum of cervicovaginal discharge among professional sex workers versus nonprofessionals

Abstract

Abstract Context Vaginal discharge is a major problem for women, causing discomfort and anxiety, thus affecting the quality of their life. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are occurring in higher percentage in commercial sex workers, since they tend to have high rates of partner change and unprotected sex. Aims This study aims to find out the prevalence of various etiological agents of cervicovaginal discharge, identify coinfections, and determine antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the isolates. Settings and design Cross sectional comparative study. Methods and materials High risk and low risk females, 50 each were included and high vaginal, cervical swabs, and blood samples were collected from each patient. Microscopy, culture, serology, and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were done. Statistical analysis Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test (IBM-SPSS statistics version 22) and simple percentage calculation. Results Among the various etiologies of cervicovaginal discharge, candidiasis was the commonest followed by chlamydial cervicitis, bacterial vaginosis, aerobic vaginosis, trichomoniasis, and gonococcal cervicitis in order. Coinfections were found in more than a third of total positives. Conclusions Treatment failure in cervicovaginal discharge is mainly due to coinfections and resistant isolates, which emphasizes the importance of etiological diagnosis and susceptibility testing.