VULVO-VAGINAL CANDIDIASIS - EPIDEMIOLOGIC DIAGNOSTIC, AND THERAPEUTICCONSIDERATIONS (REPRINTED FROM AM-J-OBSTET-GYNECOL, VOL 178, PG 203-11, 1998)

Although it is the second most common vaginal infection in North Ameri ca, vulvovaginal candidiasis is a nonnotifiable disease and has been e xcluded from the ranks of sexually transmitted diseases. Not surprisin gly, vulvovaginal candidiasis has received scant attention by public h ealth authorities, funding agencies, and researchers. Epidemiologic da ta on risk factors and pathogenic mechanisms remain inadequately studi ed. Most important, standards of care, including diagnosis and therapy , remain undefined. A conference,vas held in April 1996 to define and summarize what is known and supported by scientific data in the areas of epidemiology, diagnosis? and treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis; but, more important, the conference aimed at defining what is not kno wn, poorly studied, and controversial. Guidelines for the treatment an d diagnosis of the different forms of vulvovaginal candidiasis are sug gested.