Aerobic Bacterial Pathogens causing Vaginitis in Patients Attending A Tertiary Care Hospital and their Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern

Aerobic vaginitis (AV) is a condition in which the normal vaginal inhabitants are replaced by aerobic bacterial pathogens, triggering a vaginal immune response. AV should be treated promptly. The aim of the present study is to analyse the prevalence of AV in patients with clinical symptoms of vaginitis. High vaginal swabs were collected from 156 women with clinical suspicion of vaginitis, over a period of 1 year. The swabs were subjected to Gram stain and bacterial culture under aerobic conditions. The organisms were identified using standard microbiolgical methods and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed for the bacterial isolates as per CLSI guidelines. Out of the 156 samples processed aerobically, 33 showed bacterial growth in culture. The common bacteria isolated in the study were Staphylococcus aureus (24.2%), beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (21.2%), Klebsiella species (21.2%), Escherichia coli (15.2%). Antibiotics like beta-lactams/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations, Linezolid were effective against Gram positive bacteria. Gram negative bacteria were found to be more susceptible to Piperacillin Tazobactem, imipenem, meropenem, etc. The study emphasises the need for complete investigation of aerobic vaginal pathogens in patients with clinical symptoms of vaginitis.