Abstract:

Background: Vulvo vaginal candidiasis or Candida vaginitis is the fungal infection of the female lower genital tract (vagina and vulva) caused by Candida spp. Candida vaginitis is the second most complain among women attending obstetrics and gynecological clinics worldwide. It is estimated that about 75% of women are affected with Candida vaginitis at least once during their life time with 15% of these cases present with a “cyclic recurrent type” which is defined as four or more episodes of Candida vaginitis in a year.

Methodology: A cross sectional study design was conducted in Makongoro health center and randomly selected pregnant women were selected for questionnaire. The obtained results were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 20 program and the obtained qualitative data was summarized categorically

Results: The study recruited 300 pregnant women attended Antenatal Care Services (ANC) provided at Makongoro clinic. From Age group 21-25 constituted the majority of the study population forming 48%. Majority of them 47% attended primary level of education and majority were self employed constituting 58% of the participants. It was also determined that the prevalence of VVC among the studied population was 47% and that the analysis of the general knowledge on VVC was adequate. Therefore high prevalence of VVC among pregnant women is attributed to factors other than inadequate knowledge about VVC.