• Evaluation of vulvo-vaginal Candidiasis prevalence after caesarean section and natural vaginal birth
  • Afsaneh nouriyan,1 Mohadese larypoor ,2,* Ashraf Moeini ,3
    1. M.Sc of Microbial Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Department Of Biotechnology, Tehran North Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
    2. Corresponding author and Assistant Professor of Mycology, Faculty of Biology, Department Of Biotechnology, Tehran North Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
    3. Department of Endocrinology and Female Infertility at Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.


  • Introduction: To evaluating the vulvo-vaginal Candidiasis after caesarean section and natural vaginal birth using vaginal swab culture.
  • Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Arash Hospital, Tehran, Iran. 30 pregnant women between 18-38 years old (natural vaginal birth n=16, caesarean section n=14) without signs of immunodeficiency and diabetic diseases and the history of consumption of anti-fungal antibiotics and corticosteroids during their pregnancy period were included in this study. All participants signed the informed consent forms prepared for our study. The patients were followed to 6 weeks postpartum. The samples of vaginal discharge for each patient were cultured at the end of 6th week and Chrom agar Candida culture medium was used for individual vaginal swab culture (48 hours at 30 ° C). Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0.
  • Results: All the Candida species which were detected were Candida albicans. The difference in infected samples in both groups were not significant, although this amount was no statistically greater for the caesarean section group (P <0.05).
  • Conclusion: Our result shows that vulvo-vaginal Candidiasis was not related to the type of delivery (caesarean section and natural vaginal birth). However, this study must replicate in a larger sample volume and perhaps in extended duration of vaginal discharge after delivery (more than 6 weeks) to obtain more accurate results.
  • Keywords: Candida albicans, caesarean section, vaginal birth, vaginal swab culture.