The diagnosis and treatment of infectious vaginitis.

Inflammation of the vagina as a result of infectious agents is very common, both as an overgrowth of normal or common colonizers, or as a frank infection. The most common causes of infectious vaginitis are yeast, bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and parasites. Infections of the vagina produce an increase in vaginal secretion, vulvar symptoms of itching or irritation from contact with irritating vaginal fluid, and sometimes odor. A careful microscopic examination of vaginal secretions generally yields the correct diagnosis, but atypical or recalcitrant disease deserves a confirmatory culture, as noninfectious inflammatory processes can produce similar symptoms.