Genital flora in pregnancy and its association with group B streptococcal colonization

Women colonized with group B Streptococcus (GBS) during pregnancy are at an increased risk of premature delivery and GBS amniotic infection can result in intrauterine death. GBS also infects the newborn. The vaginal flora of a healthy woman is composed of Doderlein bacilli. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a clinical condition caused by the replacement of these bacilli with high concentrations of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. GBS inhibits Lactobacillus species in vitro. The main goal of this study was to assess differences in the vaginal flora of pregnant women and provide a detailed evaluation of vaginal swab for the presence of GBS and other organisms. From January 2002 to February 2003 150 healthy pregnant women were included in the study. Their mean ± S.D. age was 26.1 ± 6.7 years (range 17—45 years) and pregnancy duration was 31.4 ± 5.3 weeks (range 22—40 weeks). Vaginal fluid samples were collected with cotton swabs. The swabs were Gram-stained and placed on appropriate media. Slides were then assessed according to the criteria of Nugent et al. (excerpt)