<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<p>Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be found in the vagina of infected women remains unclear; moreover, the impact of the virus on the normal vaginal microbiota is not known.</p>
<sec><h3>The aim </h3>
<p>of our study was to identify the vaginal presence of SARS-CoV-2 and detection of predefined bacterial species changes in the vaginal flora of women that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Materials and Methods. </h3>
<p>This prospective study included 40 women, aged 24-47 years, tested for SARS-CoV-2 via nasopharyngeal and vaginal culture (TaqPath ™COVID-19 CE-IVD RT-PCR), and vaginally tested for changes in the vaginal microbiota using the Femoflor® 16 REAL-TIME PCR Detection Kit.</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Results. </h3>
<p>No one of women in this study was tested positive for vaginal presence of SARS-CoV-2. Three (7.5%) women with sexually transmitted disease were excluded. Irregularities were observed in the vaginal microbiota of 8 (21.6%) out of 37 patients included in the study: 3 (8.1%) from the SARS-CoV-2-positive group and 5 (13.5%) from the SARS-CoV-2-negative group. The remaining 29 (78.4%) women had normal vaginal flora; lactobacilli were found to be dominant. Although results revealed a difference in the vaginal microbiota between the two groups, the differences were not statistically significant (p ≥ 0.05).</p>
</sec>
<sec><h3>Conclusions. </h3>
<p>Even though it remains unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 invades the vagina of infected women, there is no significant evidence to suggest that it causes a more frequent disturbance in the vaginal microbiota of infected women compared to that in healthy women.</p>
</sec>
</abstract>

Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be found in the vagina of infected women remains unclear; moreover, the impact of the virus on the normal vaginal microbiota is not known.
The aim 
of our study was to identify the vaginal presence of SARS-CoV-2 and detection of predefined bacterial species changes in the vaginal flora of women that tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Materials and Methods. 
This prospective study included 40 women, aged 24-47 years, tested for SARS-CoV-2 via nasopharyngeal and vaginal culture (TaqPath ™COVID-19 CE-IVD RT-PCR), and vaginally tested for changes in the vaginal microbiota using the Femoflor® 16 REAL-TIME PCR Detection Kit.

Results. 
No one of women in this study was tested positive for vaginal presence of SARS-CoV-2. Three (7.5%) women with sexually transmitted disease were excluded. Irregularities were observed in the vaginal microbiota of 8 (21.6%) out of 37 patients included in the study: 3 (8.1%) from the SARS-CoV-2-positive group and 5 (13.5%) from the SARS-CoV-2-negative group. The remaining 29 (78.4%) women had normal vaginal flora; lactobacilli were found to be dominant. Although results revealed a difference in the vaginal microbiota between the two groups, the differences were not statistically significant (p ≥ 0.05).

Conclusions. 
Even though it remains unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 invades the vagina of infected women, there is no significant evidence to suggest that it causes a more frequent disturbance in the vaginal microbiota of infected women compared to that in healthy women.

Detection of predefined bacterial species in the Vaginal Microbiota in SARS-COV-2-Positive Patients

Acta Medica Bulgarica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be found in the vagina of infected women remains unclear; moreover, the impact of the...

Detection of predefined bacterial species in the Vaginal Microbiota in SARS-COV-2-Positive Patients

Published Online: Mar 16, 2024

Page range: 25 - 29

Received: May 18, 2023

Accepted: Aug 04, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/amb-2024-0004

Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, vaginal presence, vaginal flora, microbiota, microbial changes

© 2024 M. Kovachev et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Detection of predefined bacterial species in the Vaginal Microbiota in SARS-COV-2-Positive Patients

Published Online: Mar 16, 2024

Page range: 25 - 29

Received: May 18, 2023

Accepted: Aug 04, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/amb-2024-0004

KeywordsSARS-CoV-2, vaginal presence, vaginal flora, microbiota, microbial changes

© 2024 M. Kovachev et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, vaginal presence, vaginal flora, microbiota, microbial changes