Prevalence of Vaginal Candidiasis among Pregnant Women in Nnewi Town of Anambra State, Nigeria: A Recent Perspective

Vaginal candidiasis (VC) is a common genital tract infection that affects mostly women especially the
pregnant women leading to complications as abortions, premature birth, low birth weight among
others. Vaginal specimens were collected from 300 pregnant women attending pre-natal visits in three
selected hospitals in Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria using sterile swab sticks. Specimens were
cultured in Sabouraud and blood agar media under sterile condition. All pregnant patients were
considered throughout the period of the study, having obtained an informed consent from them. Chisquare
analysis of data indicated that ninety patients were positive for candidiasis, a prevalence rate
of 30.0%. Furthermore, pregnant women aged 26 to 30 recorded the highest prevalence (13.669; df =
5) that was statistically significant (p<0.05). The women who in their third trimester of pregnancy were
mostly infected (6.163; df = 2) with infection status which was highly significant (p<0.05). The
symptomatic and asymptomatic patients were uniformly infected with Candida hence, there was no
significant difference between them (p>0.05). Further stratification of the pregnant women according
to their parity revealed that Candida infection decreased with parity and was significantly higher in
those in their first and second pregnancy (p<0.01). Consideration of the socio-economic status and
occupation of the pregnant women showed no significant difference (p>0.05). It was suggested that
avoidance of predisposing factors, Vaginal Candidosis could resolve within a short period of time.