The prevalence percentage of vaginal candidiasis appeared to be 49% within Egyptian pregnant women suffering from vaginal pain and vaginal discharge. 61.2% of the 49 patients were multigravidae and almost in the age range 20 – 30 years. Based on phenotypic and biochemical characteristics, the infective 49 isolates causing vaginal candidiasis could be classified and identified to C. albicans group (32 isolates) , C. tropicalis group (12 isolates) and C. dubliniensis group (5 isolates ). Three strains of them viz. C. albicans ZUH1, C. trobicalis ZUH13 and C. dubliniensis ZUH9 were resistant to 6 antifungal agents used and the antifungal resistance ability in each of them was genetically encoded and linked to one plasmid in each of them, almost in the range 600 – 800 bp. Of many natural agents used as antifungals, aqueous extracts of alum and clove inhibited vigorously the antifungal resistant strains : C. albicans ZUH1, C. trobicalis ZUH13 and C. dubliniensis ZUH9 ; no colony forming units were detected onto Sabouraud agar after 5 days of incubation from samples treated with either alum or clove extracts. |
