What is a Candida infection?

Candida albicans, also known as Candida albicans, is a fungus that often multiplies in the female vagina and causes vaginitis. Once infected with Candida albicans, women will feel extreme itching of the vulva and a burning sensation in the vagina. Patients with severe Candida albicans infection will also have difficulty urinating, which is extremely painful, and their vulva will become red and swollen. So, what exactly is a candida infection and what are its causes?

Causes

There are currently two explanations for the recurrence of candidal vaginitis: one is due to frequent reinfection; the other is due to failure to completely eliminate the pathogenic bacteria after the last attack. Frequent reinfections are mainly caused by certain personal behaviors and lifestyles:

1. Frequent sexual activity and having many sexual partners increase the chance of transmission through sexual intercourse.

2. Frequent vaginal douching causes abnormal changes in the vaginal environment, such as dysbacteriosis and increased acidity, which can lay the foundation for Candida reinfection.

3. In order to "prevent" possible infection, some patients take broad-spectrum antibiotics irregularly, which can also destroy the local defense mechanism of the vagina, causing dysbacteriosis and frequent infections.

4. Sharing bath towels with others, wearing each other's underwear, and wearing tight clothes for a long time can also be a factor of recurrence.

Treatment and care

1. Eliminate the causes: People with diabetes should be actively treated, and broad-spectrum antibiotics, estrogens, and corticosteroids should be discontinued in time. Change underwear frequently, and use underwear, basins, and towels with boiling water to wash the ears.

2. Local medication: After washing the vagina and vulva with 2% soda water, apply 1 Daktarin suppository (or 1 clotrimazole suppository or nystatin suppository) into the vagina for 7 consecutive days as a course of treatment. If accompanied by vulvar itching, nystatin or Daktarin cream can be applied to the vulva at the same time.

3. Systemic medication:

A. Take Sporanox (100 mg per tablet) in the morning and evening for 1 day.

B. Fluurazole: 150 mg once.

C. Ketoconazole: 200-400 mg per day, orally once a day for 7 consecutive days.

4. Treatment of Candida infection during pregnancy: Local treatment is the main treatment, 7-day treatment is effective, and oral azole drugs are prohibited.

5. No routine treatment is required for sexual partners. Symptomatic men should be tested and treated.