Abstract

*Dr. Syeda Maham Zainab, Dr. Abdul Hakim and Dr. Uzair Hassan

ABSTRACT

Background: The female lower genital is habited by various microorganisms as normal resident which help to protect the woman against various form of infections. Aims and objectives: This is to assess the bacterial microflora of vagina and cervix in women of rural community in a developing country. Subjects and Methods: A qualitative comparative study of the bacterial flora of the vagina and cervix of 220 nonpregnant women of childbearing age (18- 40 years) in Lahore, Pakistan was undertaken. Results: The study revealed that both aerobic and microaerophilic organisms as well as the strictly anaerobic bacteria constituted the microflora of the lower genital of this group of women. Of the 220 women sampled, Lactobacilli were the most frequently isolated organism in both the cervix and vagina, occurring in 62.2% and 75.6% samples respectively. Proteus species were the least in incidence, occurring in only 4.1% and 5.3% in the vaginal and cervical specimens respectively. The following pathogenic organisms were isolated in both the vagina and cervix: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Clostridium species and Beta-haemolytic Steptococci. In general, the same types of organisms were isolated in both the cervical and vaginal samples, although the incidence in the two sources varied. Conclusion: the organism from the cervix and vagina were essentially the same despite the anatomical and physiological differences of these structures.