Can We Trust a Compact Bacteriological Screening Test to Identify the Common Vaginal Pathogens?

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the A.F. Genital System® in the detection of vaginal pathogens in patients with obstetrical and gynecological pathologies. Materials and Methods: A total of 197 vaginal swab samples were collected from patients presenting with various obstetrical and gynecological pathologies. The A.F. Genital System® and vaginal culture/traditional methods were used for pathogen detection. Results: The A.F. Genital System® demonstrated a detection rate of 68% for single vaginal infectious agents, outperforming the vaginal culture/traditional methods (52.8%). However, differences in detection rates were observed for specific pathogens, such as E. coli, Gardnerella vaginalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas spp. Conclusions: Despite lower sensitivity for specific pathogens, the A.F. Genital System® showed a high correlation with reference tests, suggesting its potential utility as a diagnostic tool for identifying common vaginal pathogens in clinical settings.

Keywords

• culture
• vaginitis
• diagnostic tests
• routine