A comparison study between the direct agglutination test and conventional methods in the diagnosis of vulvovaginal candidiasis

摘要

We compared the current diagnostic methods (clinical examination, microscopy and mycological culture) with a direct agglutination (DA) test in the diagnosis of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). One hundred fifty women with suspected VVC were examined by microscopy and culture methods. The patients' sera were tested for the presence of anti-Candida antibody and iron and zinc concentration. Of the 150 patients studied, 120 (80%) were found to be Candida positive using both microscopy and culture methods whilst 30 cases (20%) were infected with non-Candida agents. Forty nine (32.7%) and 71 (47.3%) were positive in microscopy and culture, respectively. VVC was mostly observed in patients ranging from 20 and 29 years of age (42.5%). Candida albicans (65.3%) was found in significantly higher proportion of patients compared to other isolated yeasts (P < 0.05). The iron and zinc concentrations were similar in the two patient groups. The DA test was positive in 114 (76%) of patients, indicating the incidence of a positive value increasing in direct proportion to the amount of yeast isolated. A titre of 1:16 was the most frequent value in both groups with positive and negative cultures. This study offers the DA test as a useful alternative to conventional methods for the diagnosis of VVC.