Use of Oral Probiotics as an Adjunctive Therapy to Fluconazole in the Treatment of Yeast Vaginitis

Yeast vaginitis is a very common ailment affecting premenopausal women in Nigeria. This condition is more prevalent in the age group between 21-30 years. More than 75% of premenopausal women and university students are diagnosed with yeast infections annually. In most of these women, recurrent rate of vaginal candidiasis with empiric therapy, stands between 70 and 80%. In addition, resistance to anti-fungal agents is increasing at an alarming speed, particularly with species other than Candida albicans such as C tropicalis and C glabrata. The healthy vaginal environment is composed mainly of lactobacilli and when these organisms are suppressed overgrowth of a large number of pathogens occur including yeasts. In this pilot study,we hypothesize that oral administration of two well documented strains of lactobacilli (L.rhamnosis GR-1 and L.reuteri RC-14 ) given to women with recurrent yeast vaginitis, following standard therapy with fluconazole will result in a significant reduction in recurrence rate of the disease.