ABSTRACT

 The prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in both selfreported symptomatic and asymptomatic female students of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike was investigated. Two hundred high vaginal swabs were collected, cultured and their susceptibility to various antibiotics were determined. Out of the 200 samples examined, 148(74%) had one form of microbial organism or the other, ranging from bacteria to fungi; bacteria making up to 104 ofthe isolates while 44 isolates were offungal infection. Fifty two (52) patients representing 26% had none. The frequency of isolation of organism was E. coli 68 (46.0%), Yeast, 44(29.7%) and Staphylococcus aureus 36 (24.3%). Almost all the patients who practiced douching with soap and antiseptics had more than 90% ofthe symptoms of vaginal itching, odour and discharge. This shows that there is significant effect of douching method on the various indications for BV. The low sensitivity (28.1%), low positive predictive value and high specificity (65%), using vaginal discharge as a gold standard, pointed more to bacterial vaginosis. The most effective antibiotic against E. coli isolates was ciprofloxacin, 52(76.5%) and tarivid, (77.9%), while tetracycline 2(3.0%) was the least effective. Staphylococcus areus isolate was most sensitive to ciprofloxacin 33(91.7%) whereas they were resistant to cotrimoxazole and nalidixic acid, 0(0%) each. This study emphasizes the need for routine HVS examination among the female students, the need to stop the practice of douching especially with antiseptics and also on the importance ofrestriction of indiscriminate use and abuse of antibiotics to forestall resistanc