Isolation and Identification of Corynebacterium Vaginale (Haemophilus Vaginalis) in Women with Infections of the Lower Genital Tract

Abstract

The occurrence of Corynebacterium vaginale (Haemophilus vaginalis) and other micro-organisms in the cervix of healthy women and women with lower genital tract infections (LGTI) was studied. C. vaginale was isolated from 31.4% of 70 patients with LGTI, but not from any of 28 healthy controls. In 5.7% of the patients with LGTI, C. vaginale was the only organism recovered from the cervix. In the patients with LGTI the symptoms and signs did not vary with the presence or absence of C. vaginale. LGTI with C. vaginale could not be diagnosed with certainty from findings in wet mounts, Gram or Papanicolaou stained smears. C. vaginale was not isolated from any of the women in whom the vaginal smears revealed a flora with a predominance of bacilli morphologically of Ddderlein's type. The study also included evaluation of methods for isolating and identifying C. vaginale. In vitro C. vaginale was sensitive to all antibiotics tested with the exception of sulphonamides.