vaginitis

(noun)

Inflammation of the vagina.

Related Terms

Examples of vaginitis in the following topics:

  • Normal Genitourinary Microbiota

    • Normal flora bacteria can act as opportunistic pathogens at times of lowered immunity.The vaginal microflora consist mostly of various lactobacillus species .
    • Disturbance of the vaginal flora can lead to bacterial vaginosis.

  • Bacterial Vaginosis

    • Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a condition of disrupted balance of the vaginal microflora.
    • Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a condition where the vaginal microflora in women have become disrupted.
    • For diagnosis in the clinical practice, a swab from the vaginal wall is obtained and examined with a few different tests called the Amsel criteria:
    • Infectious agentsThe normal vaginal microflora contains many species with Lactobacillus as the dominant representative.
    • Factors that are known to disturb the balance are: antibiotics, pH imbalance (douching can alter vaginal pH), psychosocial stress, iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women and women with STD.

  • Trichomoniasis

    • Trichomoniasis, sometimes referred to as "trich", is a common cause of vaginitis.
    • Symptoms include inflammation of the cervix (cervicitis), urethra (urethritis), and vagina (vaginitis) which produces an itching or burning sensation.
    • There may also be a yellow-green, itchy, frothy, foul-smelling ("fishy" smell) vaginal discharge.

  • Nongonococcal Urethritis (NGU)

    • In women, the symptoms include vaginal discharge, abdominal pain.
    • In men, it can be diagnosed with Gram staining of urethral discharge; the same is not true for women, since they may have other Gram negative bacteria that are part of their normal vaginal microflora.

  • Antibiotics and Selective Toxicity

    • Antibacterials can also affect the vaginal flora, and may lead to overgrowth of yeast species of the genus Candida in the vulvo-vaginal area.

  • Suppression and Alteration of Microbiota by Antimicrobials

    • C. albicans is normally harmless, but when women take some antibiotics this can kill beneficial bacteria, specifically lactobacilli, in the vulvo-vaginal area.
    • This causes candidal vulvovaginitis, or yeast infections, a potentially painful infection of the vaginal mucous membranes by overgrown C. albicans.

  • Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

    • The normal vaginal flora can also cause PID under certain circumstances.

  • Development of New Vaccines

    • Gardasil is a human papillomavirus vaccine on the market and it protects against HPV-16 and HPV-18 which cause 70% of cervical cancers, 80% of anal cancers, 60% of vaginal cancers, and 40% of vulvar cancers.

  • Normal Eye Microbiota

    • Chlamydia and Neisseria may be present in an infected mother and show up on the cervical and vaginal epithelium.

  • Innate Resistance

    • Vaginal secretions serve as a chemical barrier following menarche, when they become slightly acidic, while semen contains defensins and zinc to kill pathogens.
    • However, since most antibiotics non-specifically target bacteria and do not affect fungi, oral antibiotics can lead to an "overgrowth" of fungi and cause conditions such as a vaginal candidiasis (a yeast infection).