Vaginal infections more prevalent among black women

~Vindictive~ · #1 (**permalink**) 05-16-2006, 08:38 PM

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsAr...archived=False

By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In the United States, bacterial vaginosis disproportionately affects African American women, according to research reported Wednesday in Jacksonville, Florida at the 2006 National STD Prevention Conference sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trichomoniasis is also more prevalent among African-American women, according to related research reported at the meeting.
Bacterial vaginitis, the most common vaginal infection in women of childbearing age, occurs when the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted and replaced by an overgrowth of other bacteria. The infection is sometimes accompanied by discharge, odor, pain, itching or burning. Gothic MediumTrichomoniasis is caused by the single-celled protozoan parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis, and is transmitted through sexual contact. Some but not all women develop a yellow-green vaginal discharge with a strong odor. It may also cause discomfort during intercourse and urination, as well as irritation and itching of the female genital area

The findings of a nationally representative sample of about 2000 women between the ages of 14 and 49 years old, indicate that more than one quarter of all U.S. women (27.4 percent) compared with half of non-Hispanic black women (50.3 percent) have bacterial vaginosis.
Black women were about twice as likely as either white women, who had a prevalence of 22 percent, or Mexican-American women, who had a prevalence of 28 percent, to have bacterial vaginosis," the CDC's Dr. Emilia Koumans reported.
Factors associated with bacterial vaginosis were douching, having an annual family income less than $20,000, having been pregnant, black race, and for white women, increasing numbers of sex partners. Using the same study data, Koumans and colleagues also found that the overall prevalence of trichomoniasis among U.S. women is 3 percent. However, among non-Hispanic black women, the prevalence is 13.5 percent. Black women were more than nine times more likely to be infected than either white women, who had a prevalence of 1.2 percent, or Mexican-American women, who had a prevalence of 1.5 percent," Koumans reported.