Pelvic inflammatory disease and puerperal sepsis in Ethiopia. I. Etiology.

Among 100 outpatient women with symptoms and signs of pelvic inflammatory disease and 200 asymptomatic, postpartum women, the prevalence rates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were 19% and 9%, respectively. Of 46 women hospitalized for PID, 33% were culture-negative, 22% grew Enterobacteriaceae, 20% grew streptococci, 15% grew gonococci, and 15% grew anaerobes from blood, pus, or abscesses. One third of 67 women hospitalized for puerperal sepsis (PPS) were culture-negative; the bacteria isolated most frequently from the uterus, blood, urine, and pus were Enterobacteriaceae (36%), gonococci (28%), streptococci (25%), and anaerobes (4%). The low frequency of isolation of anaerobes in women with PID and PPS was due largely to limitations placed on the collection and processing of specimens for anaerobic bacteriology.