Genital Symptoms & Conditions Flashcards
What are some common genital symptoms?
- Discharge from an orifice
- Pain from somewhere
- Rashes
- Lumps and swellings
- Cuts, sores, ulcers
- Itching
- Change in appearance
- Vague sense of things not being right…
STDs are treatable but not always ..?..
Curable
Why is there a grey area when it comes to whether its an STD or not?
Can think of most organisms as being in that central zone – assessment of where its main transmission mode is, whether it is an STI or not
In a microbial infection, what’s causing the symptom?
Could be symptom caused by infecting organism or caused by host response to organism or combination.
Look at how pathogenic the organism itself is or if its something else that has caused the problem
What is the majority of Vulvovaginal candidiasis caused by and where is it acquired from?
90% Candida Albicans
Usually acquired from bowel (Could be common commensals in the vagina & in the bowel)
Is Vulvovaginal candidiasis common & how does it present?
V common. Usually trivial but can cause misery in a minority.
Often asymptomatic carriage
* Changes in host’s environment trigger pathogenicity
If symptomatic: “thrush”
* Itch
* Discharge – classically thick, ‘cottage cheese’ but often just a report of increased amount
What are the reasons that Vulvovaginal candidiasis is more likely to happen?
- Diabetes, oral steroids
- Immune suppression incl HIV
- Pregnancy
- Reproductive age group (oestrogen…glycogen=food for yeast)
But many cases occur in people with no pre-disposing factors
How is Vulvovaginal candidiasis diagnosed/examination findings?
Characteristic history
Examination findings
* Fissuring
* Erythema with satellite lesions
* Characteristic discharge
What is the Canes test (OTC Test)?
pH test kit - misleading as vaginal pH is the same as the vaginal pH of thrush so is not a diagnostic test for thrush
Normally self swab done -stained in clinic & then checked under microscope
If have vaginal pH normal of about 4.5 what can you know?
It is probably not bacterial vaginosis
Where else is common for a thrush presentation?
May see this in the back of peoples mouths too (e.g overuse of oral or inhaled steroids, undiagnosed HIV etc)
How is Vulvovaginal candidiasis investigated (think actually figuring out what organism is)?
- Gram stained preparation
– Low sensitivity – might look at an unrepresentative patch - Culture – eg Sabouraud’s medium
– Low specificity – yeast are commensal organisms
– Higher sensitivity-but labour intensive
PCR-largely used in research setting-as has the lowest specificity (& highest sensitivity)- so even more likely to find ‘innocent bystander’ organisms
How is Vulvovaginal candidiasis treated & how do you manage a resistant case of it?
- Azole antifungals:
- Clotrimazole 500mg PV once + Clotrimazole HC if vulvitis
- Fluconazole 150mg PO once
- Resistant case?
Determine species and sensitivities and treat accordingly
What is other management for Vulvovaginal candidiasis?
Maintain skin-avoid irritants, treat dermatitis
Some women’s skin is particularly prone to thrush symptoms, maybe tendency to atopy
Does Vulvovaginal candidiasis often need to be treated?
Often will self correct- so doesn’t need to be treated necessarily
What is classed as recurrent thrush?
4 episodes a year
What is the commonest cause of abnormal vaginal discharge?
BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS
What are the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis?
- Asymptomatic in 50%
- Watery grey/yellow ‘fishy’ discharge
- May be worse after period / sex
- Sometimes sore/itch from dampness