Vaginal microflora in healthy women with Gardnerella vaginalis.

In order to find the vaginal prevalence of Gardnerella vaginalis in a normal female population, we determined the incidence of G. vaginalis in relation to that of other bacterial genera and species in the vagina. Two-hundred and thirty-nine healthy women were the subjects of this study. Vaginal discharge was collected and bacteriological studies were performed. The mean total aerobe count in the G. vaginalis-positive group was 9.02 log10 colony-forming units (CFU)/g, which was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) than that (6.80 log10 CFU/g) in the G. vaginalis-negative group. In contrast, there was no difference in the mean total anaerobe count between the two groups of subjects (8.82 and 8.24 log10 CFU/g, respectively in the case of including Lactobacillus species count). Also, the mean pH level of vaginal secretion in the G. vaginalis-positive group was 4.58, which was significantly higher (P < 0.005) than that (4.10) in the G. vaginalis-negative group. Aerobes were isolated at equal incidence in the two groups. Anaerobes were isolated at a significantly higher rate in the G. vaginalis-positive group (P < 0.005) than in the G. vaginalis-negative group. The mean count of Lactobacillus species was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) in the G. vaginalis-negative group than in the positive counterpart (7.02 vs 8.66). Elevation of vaginal pH, an increase in the anaerobe count, and decreases in the Lactobacillus species count could be good predictors of the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in healthy women.