Vaginal candidiasis and the role of the digestive tract as a source of infection.

Of 300 female patients seen in a Venereal Diseases clinic, 84 (28-0 per cent) were found to be harbouring Candida albicans or C. parapsilosis in the genital tract and 33 per cent of these patients had clinical signs of vulvovaginitis. Of the 84 patients, 71-4 per cent harboured yeasts in the ano-rectal tract; of the remaining 216 patients, 25-9 per cent harboured yeasts in the ano-rectal tract. There was no evidence to suggest that the incidence of yeasts in the mouth, ano-rectal or genital tracts changed with age or use of oral contraception.