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Diversity and stability of cultured vaginal lactobacilli in pregnant women from a multi‐ethnic urban UK population
Author(s) -
Husain S.M.,
Wilks M.,
Mupita M.,
Reddy S.P.,
Hennessy E.M.,
Macfarlane A.J.,
Millar M.R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/jam.12506
Subject(s) - ethnic group , diversity (politics) , population , vagina , lactobacillus , biology , demography , medicine , bacteria , sociology , genetics , anthropology
Aim To determine the diversity and stability of cultured vaginal lactobacilli in a multi‐ethnic population of pregnant women. Methods and Results A single‐centre, prospective, cohort study was performed in a tertiary perinatal centre in E ast L ondon, UK . Self‐collected vaginal swabs at 13 and 20 weeks gestation were obtained from women attending for routine antenatal care and cultured for lactobacilli. In women who provided both swabs, 37 of 203 (18%) had no lactobacilli cultured at either time. Only 53 (26%) had the same species at both times. Black women were less likely to have lactobacilli cultured at 13 weeks ( P = 0·014), and Black and Asian women were less likely to have lactobacilli cultured at 20 weeks ( P = 0·002) compared with those in the W hite and O ther groups. Conclusions Significant differences exist between ethnic groups in the carriage and stability of vaginal lactobacilli. Significance and Impact of the Study These differences have implications for the design of interventions aimed at normalizing the vaginal microbiota in pregnant women.