Bacterial Vaginosis: Prevalence in Sexually Active Women Living in the City of Franceville (Gabon) and its Surroundings

Background: Bacterial vaginosis has been the subject of numerous studies to assess its impact on vaginal health. It is a very common vaginal syndrome in women who are sexually active in general and of childbearing age in particular. This study was conducted in the city of Franceville and its surroundings to establish the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis. Material and Methods: A socio-demographic survey sheet made it possible to collect the data of the 257 participants and to record the different characteristics of the vaginal samples taken after signing the informed consent. These vaginal swabs were stained with Gram stain, examined under an immersion microscope, and then classified by the Nugent score to diagnose the presence of bacterial vaginosis or not. Associated infections were sought by culturing the samples on specific media. The IST2 kit was used to diagnose urogenital mycoplasmas. The Chi 2 test was used to determine whether the distribution of bacterial vaginosis according to the different factors considered was significant with an α risk set at 5%. Results: The diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis using the Nugent score gave a prevalence of 64.59% while the use of Amsel criteria alone provided prevalence of 26.07% with a statistically significant difference between two methods (p=2.2.10-16). Women aged 25 to 35 (p=0.137), those with a history of abortion or having an ectopic pregnancy (p=0.102), unmarried women (p=0.217), those consuming alcohol (p=0.151) and those who are employed or traders (p=0.145) are the most affected without this being statistically significant. The prevalence of bacterial vaginosis was significantly high in participants who had at least two weekly sexual relationships (p=0.003), in those who relapsed (p=9.5.10-13), in those who consulted without apparent symptoms (p=0.026) and in its association with urogenital mycoplasmas (p=0.027) and in those who are pregnant (p=0.044). Conclusions: Bacterial vaginosis is very high in the city of Franceville and its surroundings.