Abstract

The prevalence of vaginosis and vaginitis among the female students of the University of Calabar was studied between September and December, 2005. High vaginal swabs were collected from each respondent. Questionnaires were administered to the respondents and collected together with the specimen. A total of 1000 respondents aged between 15 and 35 years were examined. The survey revealed that 70% were infected with vaginosis and vaginitis, among these, 51% had single infection while 19% had mixed infections. On the other hand, 330 (64.71%) had candidiasis while 180 (35.29%) had bacterial vaginosis. Genital discharges, 400 (51.28%) was the commonest symptom while a combination of itching, burning and genital discharge 170 (21.79%) was the least. Contraceptive related prevalence shows that condom (54.72%) was the most common contraceptive used while injectible (1.89%) was the least. Statistical analysis of the data revealed a significant difference (P<0.05) between sexually active (aged groups 21 to 30) and sexually inactive (age group 15 to 20 and 31 to 34). The findings of this study show that there is high prevalence rate of vaginitis and vaginosis among the study population and a significant number of asymptomatic patients being vaginitis and vaginosis positive. This reveals the sanitary conditions of the female toilets in the hostels.

Key words: Vaginosis, candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis, contraceptives, vaginitis.