Abstract
WABBED SPECIMENS from the following ana tomical sites - skin, nasal, oral, rectal and vaginal were examined for their concentration of Candida albicans and the relationship of each count to the anatomical sites, microscopy results, Polymorphonuclear leukocytes concentrations and candidiasis.
A total of 1,000 specimens were analysed by wet mount, microscopy, and culture from undergraduate female students whose ages ranged between 18 and 30 years. It was observed that 45.5% of the total specimens was positive for Candida albicans using the cultural technique. There was a statistical significant difference P <0.05 in the isolation rate of the three identification techniques and the recovery of Candida albicans from the various anatomical sites. Vaginal specimens recorded the largest number of positive cultures with 136(30.0%) of the total 454 positive cultures. 128(94.1%) of the total positive vaginal specimens had counts in excess of 103 CFU/ml.
A significant correllation (P<0.001) was noted among the concentration of yeast cells from the various anatomical sites. Furthermore, the number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and the concentration of yeast cells from the various body sites was statistically significant (P<0.001).
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