Bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy and early labour using Nugent scoring and the implication on foetal outcome

Longitudinal assessment of bacterial vaginosis prior to and during incident pregnancy: an observational study in Kenyan adolescent girls and young women

OBJECTIVE

To determine bacterial vaginosis (BV) status at multiple time points among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and assess the impact of pregnancy on their BV status.

DESIGN

Longitudinal cohort study.

SETTING

Thika, Kenya.

PARTICIPANTS

AGYW aged 16-20 years enrolled prior to first sex or reporting only a single lifetime partner.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The primary outcome was relative risk (RR) of BV during pregnancy compared with before pregnancy by analysing longitudinal trends in BV over time. BV risk was estimated using Poisson regression models.

RESULTS

A total of 121 AGYW became pregnant in the parent cohort and had BV results before, during or after pregnancy. Point prevalence of BV was 11.0% at visits >12 months pre-pregnancy, 13.0% at 3-12 months pre-pregnancy, 22.1% at <3 months pre-pregnancy and 13.4% during pregnancy. Compared with visits during pregnancy, RR of BV was 1.65 (95% CI: 1.00 to 2.71; p=0.05) at visits <3 months pre-pregnancy, 0.97 (95% CI: 0.62 to 1.52; p=0.90) at visits 3-12 months pre-pregnancy and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.44 to 1.53; p=0.53) at visits 12 months pre-pregnancy. An adjusted analysis including age, income, residence, date of first sex, recent sexual activity and positive sexually transmitted infection test resulted in small changes in risk estimates, with adjusted RR of BV of 1.66 (95% CI: 1.04 to 2.67; p=0.04) at visits <3 months pre-pregnancy compared with visits during pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONS

BV risk during pregnancy was lower than during the immediate pre-pregnancy period. Hormonal changes in pregnancy may reduce BV.

Biostatistics Health Assessment of Matrix Metalloproteinases in Vaginal Secretions in Late Pregnant Women

Objective: The health management of pregnant women in late pregnancy is difficult. Once vaginal infection occurs, adverse pregnancy outcomes will occur. The aim of this study was to explore the application value of biostatistics health assessment of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) in vaginal secretions in late pregnant women with vaginal infection. Methods: A total of 120 late pregnant women with vaginal infection, including vulvovaginal candidiasis (WC) in 70 cases and bacterial vaginosis (BV) in 50 cases, were selected as the experimental group. Another 80 pregnant women with normal vaginal secretion in the same gestational week were randomly selected as the control group. Vaginal soft capsule of mycomycin was used in the treatment. The expression levels of MMP-8 and MMP-9 in vaginal secretions before and after treatment were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and smear immunohistochemistry, Results: Both the ELISA and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the levels of MMP-8 and MMP-9 in the vaginal secretion of experimental group were significantly increased than the data of control group (P < 0.05). After effective intervention, the levels of MMP-8 and MMP-9 were significantly lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The late pregnant women with vaginal infection was accompanied by the high level of MMP-8 and MMP-9 in vaginal secretions. Effective intervention will lead the reduction of MMP. Thus, the biostatistics health assessment of MMP is important for the late pregnant women with vaginal infection.