Vulvovaginal Infections

Vulvovaginal Infections presents new knowledge to help clinicians accurately diagnose and treat their patients and highlights for researchers remaining unsolved problems and the most promising areas for continued investigation. Clinical gynecologists will find practical advice and extensive insight into solving real-life clinical scenarios. The book opens by presenting information on the microbiology of the vagina and vaginal immunology. It then discusses the diagnosis of vulvovaginal disease, including physical examination, screening processes, and laboratory testing. Diagnosis is followed by covering various vulvovaginal infections including bacterial vaginosis, Candida vulvovaginitis, Trichomonas vaginalis vaginitis, genital herpes, human papillomavirus genital infections, allergic vulvovaginitis, menopausal vulvovaginitis, cytolytic vaginosis, aerobic vaginitis, and more. For each of these conditions, the book presents information on its background, microbiology, immunology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Therapy details are provided with an emphasis on nuances that can be applied to women who fail to respond to medication prescribed or who respond and then become symptomatic once treatment has ended. This new edition discusses major advances in the characterization of endogenous microbiota that populate the genital tract in women of all ages. It also provides a more sophisticated appreciation of immune mechanisms found in the healthy female genital tract and alterations that increase both susceptibility and consequences of various infectious and noninfectious disorders. A major impetus for writing this new edition is to help the busy clinician, resident, or fellow by explaining advances in individual disorders in a manner that is relevant to their practice.