Prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis among pregnant women attending 345 aeromedical hospital (naf) kaduna and primary health care clinic samaru zaria, kaduna state, nigeria

VulvovaginalCandidiasis (VVC) is a fungal infection caused by overgrowth of Candida species affecting mostly the female genital tract as an opportunistic pathogen. High Vaginal Swab (HVS) isolates were obtained after proper ethical consents from six hundred and ten (610) pregnant women attending 345 Aeromedical Hospital (NAF) and Primary Health Care Clinic, Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State within a ten month period. Brilliance ™ Candida Agar Base and selective supplement (SR0231E) were prepared, then samples introduced and incubated at 37°c under 5% CO2 atmosphere for optimal growth of species for 24-48 hours. Identification was based on specific colour of colonies on the media as described by the manufacturer.The result revealeddifferent Candida species, namely Candida albicans(55.11%), C. glabrata(19.53%), C. tropicalis(12.33%), C. krusei(8.84%), and C. parapsilosis(4.19%). The overall total disease prevalence (70.49%) was determined by using the formula where: O/PX 100%; where: O is the number of individuals with the disease and P is the total number of population involved in the study. Also the prevalent species, Candida albicans53.81% from Aeromedical hospital NAF and 85.40% from PHC SamaruZaria when compared using Chi square analysis showedsignificant difference (P> 0.05)in the prevalence of VVC in pregnant women within first, second and third trimester in the twohealth Centers. High prevalence of Candida albicans and other Candida species among pregnant women were documented in this study. Screening protocol for early diagnosis of candidiasis is recommended.