Use of Oral Probiotics as an Adjunctive Therapy to Fluconazole in the Treatment of Yeast Vaginitis

Summary

Yeast vaginitis is a very common ailment affecting premenopausal women in Nigeria. This condition is more prevalent in the age group between 21-30 years. More than 75% of premenopausal women and university students are diagnosed with yeast infections annually. In most of these women, recurrent rate of vaginal candidiasis with empiric therapy, stands between 70 and 80%. In addition, resistance to anti-fungal agents is increasing at an alarming speed, particularly with species other than Candida albicans such as C tropicalis and C glabrata. The healthy vaginal environment is composed mainly of lactobacilli and when these organisms are suppressed overgrowth of a large number of pathogens occur including yeasts. In this pilot study,we hypothesize that oral administration of two well documented strains of lactobacilli (L.rhamnosis GR-1 and L.reuteri RC-14 ) given to women with recurrent yeast vaginitis, following standard therapy with fluconazole will result in a significant reduction in recurrence rate of the disease.

Timeline

Start

2007-05

Primary completion

—

Completion

2007-12

Publications

• Background Falagas ME, Betsi GI, Athanasiou S. Probiotics for prevention of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis: a review. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2006 Aug;58(2):266-72. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkl246. Epub 2006 Jun 21.
• Background Osset J, Garcia E, Bartolome RM, Andreu A. [Role of Lactobacillus as protector against vaginal candidiasis]. Med Clin (Barc). 2001 Sep 22;117(8):285-8. doi: 10.1016/s0025-7753(01)72089-1. Spanish.

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Indications