Infectious Disease
Case 18: A Patient with Vaginal Discharge
CASE
A 35‐year‐old female has attended the genitourinary clinic. She complained of a 2‐week history of foul‐smelling vaginal discharge. She had tried over‐the‐counter Canesten pessaries several times without success. She finds the smell disturbing and sexual intercourse with her partner of 10 years has become increasingly difficult because of the pain. She is otherwise well.
On examination she had a soft and non‐tender abdomen. You perform a speculum examination and find that she has a malodorous grey discharge, and a markedly inflamed vaginal wall. However, there was no adnexal tenderness or cervical excitation. The pH of the discharge was 5.
QUESTION 1
Your score this session: 0 of 0
What simple test could you do to the discharge sample to help differentiate the pathogen?