Prevalence and determinants of vaginal flora alterations in postmenopausal women.
The vaginal ecology of 463 community-dwelling postmenopausal women was characterized. Vaginal lactobacilli were present in 62% of the women and were significantly more prevalent among women receiving hormone replacement therapy during the previous year. Vaginal Escherichia coli and enterococci were each present in 39% of women and were significantly more frequent in women with a history of urinary tract infection. Heavy growth of lactobacilli was associated with a lower frequency of vaginal colonization with E. coli. Thus, postmenopausal women have a relative depletion of vaginal lactobacilli and an increase in vaginal E. coli compared with premenopausal women.
D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*