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Potential pathogens in the lower genital tract at manual vacuum aspiration for incomplete abortion in Korle Bu teaching hospital, Ghana


AT Lassey
RMK Adanu
MJ Newman
JA Opintah

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the carriage rates of potential pathogens in the lower genital tract and factors associated with colonization among women with incomplete abortion.


Design: A cross-sectional study.


Setting: The Manual Vacuum Aspiration room of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.


Subjects: Two hundred women undergoing Manual Vacuum Aspiration at the Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital.


Methods: Eligible patients were screened for the presence of organisms in the lower genital tract by microscopy and culture of high vaginal and endocervical swabs.


Results: Nearly two-thirds of the patients (64.2%) had potential pathogens in the lower genital tract. Bacterial vaginosis alone was present in 47% and a combination of bacterial vaginosis and Candida albicans was present in 17.2%. Residence in an urban slum showed a significant association with the presence of potential pathogens (Odds ratio 2.6; p-value 0.04).


Conclusion: Organisms responsible for bacterial vaginosis were the most frequently isolated potential pathogens in the cervical canal of patients with incomplete abortion at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Management of these patients should therefore include antibiotic prophylaxis against bacterial vaginosis.


East African Medical Journal Vol.81(8) 2004: 398-401

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eISSN: 0012-835X