An evaluation of OSOM BV blue test in the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis

Objective:To determine the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis(BV) in patients with vaginal discharge and evaluate the efficacy of OSOM BV blue test in diagnosis.Methods:OSOM BV blue test,a rapid diagnostic test based on the principle of detection of bacterial sialidase activity in vaginal fluid specimens was conducted.A total of 405 patients in the reproductive age group(15- 45 years) having vaginal discharge were included in the study along with 10 healthy age-matched controls.Two high vaginal swabs were collected aseptically from each patient.One swab was used to make smear for gram staining,and the other was for OSOM BV blue test.Amine test and vaginal pH test were taken as well.Results:The prevalence of bacterial vaginosis was 60.7%. OSOM BV blue test showed good efficacy,as compared with gram staining in diagnosing BV.The sensitivity and specificity of OSOM BV blue test were 97.6%and 97.5%respectively.Amsel’s criteria diagnosed 180(44.4%) cases of BV and had sensitivity and specificity of 67.1%and 90.6%respectively.Thus the performance of OSOM BV blue was better than the methods based on Amsel’s criteria.Conclusions:OSOM BV blue test is an efficacious bed side test,helpful in rapidly making an accurate diagnosis of BV in setups lacking laboratory facilities or expert microbiologists.