Profiling of Bacteria in Bacterial Vaginosis Infection Among Preterm Births in Kisumu County
Abstract
Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is defined as a live birth (singleton or multiple) before 37 weeks
of completed gestation. PTB is the topmost cause of morbidity and death of pretem babies
internationally and the second foremost cause of death for children below five years globally. In
spite the determinations to avoid PTB in most nations the incidence of PTB has been on the rise.
Common causes of PTB include multiple fetal, infections, genetic influence and chronic diseases
such diabetes and hypertension. Among the infectious agents, bacteria attribute to the largest
number of microorganisms associated with preterm births. The most prevalent lower genital
infection that causes pre-term births is bacterial vaginosis and several researches have shown a
positive association between the two. This study therefore highlights the profile of bacteria
associated with BV related with pre-term birth in Kisumu County.
Broad Objective: To profile bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis related to preterm
deliveries in Kisumu County Hospital.
Methodology: This was a comparative study conducted in Kisumu County. The study population
included expectant women recruited at Kisumu County hospital. A vaginal specimen was collected
from the study participants. The specimen was run through Amsel and Nugent score laboratory
diagnostic test to determine the BV status of the study participants. In addition identification of
different bacteria was done under Nugent scoring. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect
risk factors. Analysis was done using SPSS version 20.
Results: Of the 228 pregnant women were enrolled in the study, 181 study participants had
complete data thus could be categorized if they delivered at term or preterm. Last menstruation
Period (LMP) and ultra-sound (Ultra-s) were used to determine gestational age. Of the 181 who
had LMP results, 64 had ultra-S. BV prevalence based on LMP was found to be 12% (22/181).
Gardenerella vaginalis/Bacteroides were dominant among bacterial vaginosis (BV) positive with
a frequency of 50% in both term and preterm under LMP. However under ultra-S a frequency of
46% and 55% was recorded among term and preterm respectively. Risk factors that were
significant under ultra-S were age 31-40 (p=0.002), use of nylon panty material (p=0.045), history
of PTB (p=0.049), condom use in the last sexual act (p=0.022), parity 3+0 (p=0.013), parity 4+0
(p=0.003, gravidae 1 and 2 (p=0.034 and 0.001) respectively. Under LMP hormonal and nonhormonal
contraceptive (p=0.046) and parity (p=0.031) were significant.
Conclusion: The dominant bacteria were G.vaginalis/Bacteroides in both term and preterm
deliveries, under BV positives and the frequencies were slightly higher among PTB in ultra-S.
Key words: Bacterial vaginosis and preterm birth
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Subject
Bacterial Vaginosis InfectionRights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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