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 (R) 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 (R) and vaginal culture/traditional methods were used for pathogen detection. Results: The A.F. Genital System (R) 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 (R) showed a high correlation with reference tests, suggesting its potential utility as a diagnostic tool for identifying common vaginal pathogens in clinical settings.