Diagnosis of Vaginal Candidiasis and Trichomonas vaginalis Infection by Antibody Coated Latex Particles

Introduction: Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by Candida spp. Trichomoniasis is also an infection with worldwide distribution. Recurrent vaginitis which may be associated with lack of proper diagnosis is now one of the problems of women visiting Gynecology clinics. Considering this fact that conventional laboratory methods do not possess enough sensitivity or may be time consuming, using a rapid and easy method is important in the differential diagnosis of vaginal infections. The aim of this study was diagnosis of vaginal infections using latex agglutination method.

Methods: In this descriptive analytical investigation, vaginal swabs were collected from 186 women suspected to vaginal infection referred to the Gynecology clinics in Shahrekord, Iran. All samples were tested using wet smear, culture and latex agglutination methods. To estimate sensitivity and specificity of the latex agglutination method, culture method considered as gold standard.

Results: Sensitivity and specificity of the latex method for Trichomonas vaginalis infection was 70% and 96% and for Candida infection was 80% and 90% respectively. Also, the positive and negative predictive values for Trichomonas vaginalis were 50% and 98% and for Candida infection were 87% and 84%, respectively.

Conclusion: Latex agglutination method has an appropriate sensitivity and specificity for detection of Trichomonas vaginalis and Candida Spp. in human samples. So, with further modifications this method can be used for diagnosis of vaginal infections in medical laboratories.