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Primary Health Care Centre "Izudin Mulabećirović Izo", Tešanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Gynecological Centre ''Dr Mahira Jahić“, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
School of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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School of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, General Hospital Tešanj, Tešanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, School for Health Studies, University of Bihać, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, University of Zenica, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
School of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Aim To determine the prevalence of aerobic vaginitis (AV) caused by Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) in human papilloma virus (HPV)-positive women with pathological Pap test and to determine the most prevalent HPV type associated with E. faecalis infection.
Methods This prospective study was conducted at the Gynaecology Centre "Dr. Mahira Jahić" Tuzla and Primary Health Care Centre Tešanj (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in the period between February 2023 and March 2024. The research included 200 women aged 25 to 50 years. The examined group consisted of 100 women with a pathological (examined group) and 100 with a normal (control group) Pap test result.
Results Pathological Pap smears were found in 60 (out of 100; 60 %) women in the examined group: cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1 and CIN 2 in two women, respectively, CIN 3 in seven, atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) in 29 and atypical squamous cells-high-grade cannot be excluded (ASC-H) in two women. Overall (both groups) prevalence of E. faecalis was 25.5% (51women); in 45 (22.5%) women E. faecalis was the only bacterial isolate, of which 42 (21%) in the examined group and three (1.5%) in the control group. High-risk HPV types were found in 62 (out of 100; 62%) women with the pathological Pap smear test. The association of E. faecalis and high-risk HPV positive women was found in 35 (35%) cases (moderately positive correlation; r=0.198).
Conclusion E. faecalis is very common in HPV 16 and 18 positive women and may represent a risk factor in the development of cervical intraepithelial lesions.
Conceptualization, A.B. and M.J.; Formal Analysis, A.B., M.J. and A.C.; Funding acquisition, A.B.; Investigation, A.B., M.J. and A.C.; Methodology, A.B., M.J. and F.N.; Project administration, A.B.; Validation, A.B., M.J. and F.N.; Writing – original draft, A.B., M.J. and A.C.; Resources, M.J. and F.N.; Data curation, A.C.; Supervision, A.C.; Visualization, A.C.; Writing – review & editing, A.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
No specific funding was received for this study
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