Lower genital tract infection in threatened preterm birth

Abstract

Introduction: Preterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Intrauterus infection accounts for 25-40% of preterm births and upstream infections from lower genital tract is one of the etiologic factors of preterm birth. Objectives: determine common pathogens which cause lower genital tract infection in threaten pre-term birth and study on involving factors of these cases. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional description on 36 cases diagnosed as threatened preterm birth in Hue University Hospital from June, 2012 to April, 2013 by clinical examination, vaginal examination with wet-mount, microbiology culture, urine test in order to identify the causes of lower genital infection in threatened preterm birth and study on associated factors. Results: The incidence of lower genital tract infection in threatened preterm birth was 69.5% (25/36). The pathogens were the Candida (50%), Escherichia coli (8.3%), Trichomonas vaginalis (5.6%) or bacterial vaginosis (5.6%). Several factors may be related to the risk of lower genital infections in pregnant women with threatened preterm birth such as older age than 30 years (77.8% vs. 66.7%), low educational level (78.3% vs. 53.8%), manual workers (80% vs. 61.9%), a history of preterm birth (100% vs. 68.6%), under 28 weeks of gestational age (100%), with urinary leukocytes (88.9% vs. 63.0%); dysuria (78.6% vs. 0%) and clinical symptoms of genital infections (83.3% vs. 66,7%). Conclusions: Lower genital tract infections are quite popular in case of threatened preterm birth. The pathogens can be Candida, Escherichia coli, Trichomonas vaginalis or bacterial vaginosis. More researchs are needed with larger sample sizes to determine the associated factors.