Candida Species Amongst Pregnant Women In Benin City, Nigeria: Effect Of Predisposing Factors

Genital samples from pregnant women were examined to determine the Candida species present and how some predisposing factors would affect the frequency of isolation of species. A total of 147 women (87 volunteer asymptomatic pregnant women and 60 asymptomatic nonpregnant women) were examined. High Vaginal Swabs (HVS) were collected in pairs while demographic data (age of individual, age of pregnancy, occupation and use of contraceptive pill) on each subject were obtained alongside. Samples were cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar plates and incubated for 72 hours at 37°C. Results revealed five Candida species ( C.albicans, C.glabrata, C.tropicalis, C.stellatoidea, C.parapsilosis ) with 61.5, 17.9, 7.7, 5.1, 2.6 % frequency of isolation respectively, as against 73.7, 7.7, 1.4, 11.3, and 0.0% for control. Women in the second trimester of pregnancy had the highest occurrence (68.8%) while the age groups 24- 30 and 31-37 years had the highest occurrence in the control (46.2%) and in the pregnant ones (51.7%) respectively. Traders had 68.8%, and full-time housewives, 26.7% occurrence. More women who used contraceptives had Candida (58.3%) as against non contraceptive users (35.3%). The results support literature reports that there are high rates of colonization of the vagina of pregnant women by Candida . They also give credence to earlier reports that the factors determined here affect the frequency of isolation of Candida species from the vagina. Keywords : Candida , pregnancy, women, genital specimens, Benin City African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Vol. 10 (2) 2009: pp. 92-98