Cervicovaginal infections and coinfections, their significance through the Papanicolaou test: A cross-sectional study in pregnant and non-pregnant women.

Introduction: Cervicovaginal infections continue to be a public health problem for the female population. The aim of this study is to compare the prevalence of infections and co-infections diagnosed by cervical cytology in pregnant and non-pregnant patients at the San Bartolomé Hospital, Lima, Peru.

Methods: An observational and cross-sectional study was conducted. A sample of 284 cervical reports from pregnant and non-pregnant women were included, screened by the Pap test during the period 2021-2023.

Results: The overall prevalence of cervicovaginal infections was 52.8%, for pregnant women 59.2% and for non-pregnant women 46.5%, with statistically significant differences between the groups (p˂0.05). Bacterial vaginosis (43%) and Candida spp. predominated. (26.8%), showing significant differences (p˂0.05). No significant differences were observed with other cervicovaginal infections (p>0.05). The general prevalence of co-infections was 13.4%, for the pregnant group it was 19.7% and for the non-pregnant group it was 7.0%, observing differences with statistical significance between the groups (p˂0.05). The most predominant co-infection was bacterial vaginosis accompanied by Candida spp. (13.4%), finding significant differences (p˂0.05). No significant differences were observed with other cervicovaginal co-infections (p>0.05).

Conclusion: There is a higher prevalence of cervicovaginal infections and co-infections in pregnant women in contrast to non-pregnant women, observing statistically significant differences by means of the pap test.