Prevalence of Vaginal Candidiasis and Determination of the Occurrence of Candida Species in Pregnant Women Attending the Antenatal Clinic of Thika District Hospital, Kenya

Epidemiological monitoring of vaginal candidiasis infections associated with preterm delivery and death of the infant is highly desirable especially in pregnant women. The objectives were to determine the prevalence of vaginal candidiasis and the occurrence of Candida species in pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of Thika District Hospital, Kenya. Vaginal swabs were collected from 104 pregnant women between the months of June and August 2010. The Candida species were identified by standard mycological and biochemical methods and the prevalence was determined by , where: O is the number of individuals with the disease and P is the total number of individuals in the population involved in the study. Out of 104 samples obtained from the pregnant women with symptoms of vaginal candidiasis, 94 (90.38%) patients were tested positive and 10 (9.62%) were tested negative for vaginal candidiasis. The percentage distribution of vaginal candidiasis within age group was highest in the age brackets 26 - 35 years with 56(60%) patients and in the 3 super(rd) trimester of pregnancy with 64(68.09%) patients. The percentage occurrence of vaginal Candida species showed that Candida albicans was the most isolated species with 60(63.83%) isolates. The results indicated a high prevalence of vaginal candidiasis: 42.7%. The women at great risk were those between 26 - 35 years and in their 3 super(rd )trimester. Candida albicans was the most prevalent vaginal Candida species across all age groups and trimesters.