What are the symptoms of candidal infection?

Candida infection is very common in today's life. No matter what kind of disease it is, it may seriously threaten people's health. Therefore, people must treat it correctly. Candida is a common fungal disease, which is generally caused by infection of many diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to understand its symptoms and discover its existence as soon as possible. Today let us take a look at the symptoms of Candida infection.

1. Common symptoms

Excessive leucorrhea, burning and itching of the vulva and vagina, exogenous dysuria, and geographic erythema of the vulva. Typical leucorrhea is curd-like or bean curd-like, the vaginal mucosa is highly red and swollen, and white thrush-like plaques can be seen attached, which are easy to peel off. Underneath is an eroded base of damaged mucosa, or shallow ulcers may form. In severe cases, ecchymosis may remain. However, not all leucorrhea has the above typical characteristics. It can range from watery to curd-like leucorrhea. Some are completely thin and clear serous exudates, which often contain white flakes. The itching symptoms of candidal vaginitis during pregnancy are particularly severe, and may even cause restlessness and abnormal pain. There may also be symptoms such as frequent urination, painful urination, and pain during sexual intercourse. In addition, about 10% of women and 30% of pregnant women are carriers of mold but have no clinical symptoms.

2. Inspection

In case of severe and persistent vulvar itching, fungal infection should be considered first. The diagnosis can be confirmed by direct smear examination and culture of local secretions. The hyphae branches and spores of fungi can be easily seen under the microscope. Candida albicans is oval in shape and Gram-negative, but the staining is often uneven. It is about 3 to 5 μm (several times larger than Staphylococcus aureus). It often produces sprouts that do not fall off (spores), so that it looks like hyphae but is not hyphae, so it is called pseudohyphae.

3. Diagnosis

Based on the typical clinical manifestations and visual examination of vaginal discharge, the diagnosis of candidal vaginitis is usually not difficult. However, for atypical cases, in order to confirm the diagnosis, for those suspected of being carriers of fungi, or to understand the effectiveness of treatment, a vaginal discharge examination must be performed, and the reliability can be increased to 80%. The most reliable method is to perform a mold culture. In addition, attention should also be paid to related predisposing factors, such as a history of using large doses of steroid hormones or broad-spectrum antibiotics, and the need for urine sugar and blood sugar tests for diabetic patients.

IV. Treatment Methods

1. Change the acidity and alkalinity of the vagina

If you use alkaline drugs to flush the vagina, you can use 2% to 4% soda solution to flush the vagina to change the living environment of the fungus. However, its effectiveness remains controversial.

2. Drug treatment

(1) Nystatin vaginal suppository: inserted deep into the vagina, once in the morning and once in the evening or once every night for 2 weeks. Clotrimazole suppositories or miconazole suppositories can also be used.

(2) Oral administration of nystatin or fluconazole, etc.

(3) Apply topically nystatin cold cream or miconazole cream twice a day.

Pregnant women with candidal vaginitis may recover after delivery, but the newborn is at risk of infection, so timely treatment is still needed, preferably with local medication.

3. Male carriers

Male carriers must also receive routine treatment, which is one of the important measures to prevent recurrence of female patients.