What causes fungal vaginitis?

In fact, many people have experienced inflammation, and most of them are fungal. Especially for women today, they must pay attention to personal hygiene, otherwise it is easy to get fungal vaginitis. First of all, you need to pay attention to the corresponding care and prevention work, and avoid some problems that worsen the disease. In addition, you must be careful not to confuse it with many diseases and check it out in time.

Pathological etiology

80-90% of VVC is caused by Candida albicans, and a small number of VVC can be caused by Candida glabrata, Candida parapsilosis or Candida tropicalis.

Candida albicans are oval, single-walled cells distributed in groups, with blastospores and pseudohyphae formed by cell germination and elongation.

Candida is not heat-resistant and will die if heated to 60℃ for one hour, but it is highly resistant to dryness, sunlight, ultraviolet rays and chemical agents. About 10% of non-pregnant women and 30% of pregnant women have vaginal Candida parasites without symptoms.

When the glycogen in the vagina increases and the pH value decreases, Candida albicans can easily multiply and cause inflammation, so it is more common in pregnant women, diabetic patients and those who use estrogen; after large-scale long-term use of antibiotics, the normal flora in the vagina is suppressed and Candida albicans overgrows; long-term use of immunosuppressants or glucocorticoids can reduce the patient's immune function. These factors can promote vaginal infection and lead to VVC.

Disease diagnosis

The diagnosis of typical VVC is not difficult, but it is easy to be confused with other vulvar lesions, so pathogen examination is required for confirmation. The diagnosis can be made by directly doing a vaginal smear test.

a. Use the 10% KOH hanging drop method to find spores and pseudohyphae under a microscope, and the positive rate can reach 60%.

b. Using Gram staining, the positive rate can reach 80%.

c. The culture method has a higher positive rate and can determine sensitive antifungal drugs, but it takes some time to confirm the diagnosis. It can be used for refractory VVC or recurrent VVC.

d. For stubborn cases, we should actively investigate whether there is a history of estrogen or antibiotic use, and check blood sugar to exclude diabetes.