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Aerobic vaginitis in late pregnancy and outcomes of pregnancy

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk factors and pregnancy outcomes for aerobic vaginitis (AV) in late pregnancy. A total of 624 pregnant women who were treated in the perinatal unit at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and 365 nonpregnant women who were evaluated at a health management center from January 2015 to June 2016 were recruited for this case-control study. A questionnaire covering personal hygiene habits and sociodemographic factors was administered to pregnant women to analyze risk factors for AV. Bacterial vaginosis, AV, vulvovaginal candidiasis, and Trichomonas vaginitis were scored according to standardized definitions. Pregnancy outcomes were followed up and recorded. The chi-square test and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used for statistical evaluation. The prevalence of vaginal infection in pregnant and nonpregnant women were 27.9% and 15.3%, respectively (P < 0.05). AV was identified more frequently in pregnant women than in nonpregnant women (4.2% vs. 1.4%; P < 0.05). A history of vaginal infection within 1 year (odds ratio [OR] = 3.219, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.103–9.346) and external hemorrhoids (OR = 11.233, 95% CI 4.647–27.155) were independent risk factors for AV during pregnancy. A higher incidence of premature rupture of membranes (PROM) was significantly associated with AV (P < 0.05). AV is common in late pregnancy. Clinicians should pay more attention to vaginal microbiota evaluations during pregnancy.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the participants enrolled in this study.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (Grant No. 81471419) and Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Commission (Grant No. 16JCYBJC26400).

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Author notes

  1. Cha Han and Huiyang Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, No.154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China

    Cha Han, Huiyang Li, Lulu Han, Chen Wang, Ye Yan, Wenhui Qi, Aiping Fan, Yingmei Wang & Fengxia Xue

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  1. Cha Han
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  2. Huiyang Li
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  3. Lulu Han
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fengxia Xue.

Ethics declarations

All authors have read and have abided by the statement of ethical standards for manuscripts submitted to “European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases”. The study was reviewed and approved by the ethical committee of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, and the participants were enrolled into the study after obtaining their written informed consent.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Han, C., Li, H., Han, L. et al. Aerobic vaginitis in late pregnancy and outcomes of pregnancy. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 38, 233–239 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-018-3416-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-018-3416-2

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