Background
Vaginal infections usually caused by Candida sp, organisms responsible for bacterial vaginosis and Trichomonas vaginalis are associated with considerable discomfort and adverse outcomes during pregnancy and child birth. The study determined the prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), bacterial vaginosis (BV) and trichomoniasis (TV) in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at the Kintampo Municipal Hospital.
Methods
A study adopted a cross sectional design and recruited 589 pregnant women after seeking their informed consent from September, 2014 to March, 2015. Semi-structured questionnaire were administered to participants and vaginal swabs were collected. The samples were analysed using wet mount method and Gram stain (Nugent criteria) for vaginal infection. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to investigate association of risk factors to vaginal infections.
Results
The overall prevalence of at least one vaginal infection was 56.4%. The prevalence of vulvovaginal candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis were 36.5, 30.9 and 1.4% respectively. Women with more than four previous pregnancies (OR: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.13–0.58) and those in the third trimester of pregnancy (OR: 0.54, CI: 0.30–0.96) were associated with a lower risk of bacterial vaginosis. Douching and antibiotic use were neither associated with VVC or BV.
Conclusion
The prevalence of vaginal infections was high among pregnant women in the Kintampo area. There is the need for interventions such as adequate investigations and early treatment of vaginal infections to reduce the disease burden to avoid associated complications.
Two and a half decades after the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, access to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services by young people is very low, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) despite the increasing resources being targeted at addressing the SRH needs of young people. This paper focuses on the needs and experiences of young people in accessing SRH services in SSA. Using a content analysis tool, this paper focused on review of published articles on barriers to SRH services, access and utilisation among young people in SSA from 1994 to 2019. Guided by the focus of the analysis, 21 studies out of 257 were fi nally selected, and fi ndings presented from
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