Reliability of the Whiff Test in Clinical Practice

Abstract

Vaginitis is among the most common reasons for gynecological consultation in primary care. Although the work-up of vaginal symptoms is well described in the literature, women often go without a diagnosis, 1,2 and a recent study using cultures as a gold standard found that clinician diagnoses were not very accurate.

Bacterial Profile of Vaginitis

“…Hence this attempt of studying the vaginal flora in study and control populations was undertaken. But this study also does not throw any clear cut demarcation between the asymptomatic and symptomatic group (Cohressen et al, 2005;Collee et al, 1989;Doderlein et al, 1892).…”

“…In the future, by using molecular techniques, we may better diagnose each subtype of BV, and able to tailor treatment appropriately. symptomatic vaginitis may throw some light as to the bacterial profile in relation to the type of clinical presentation (Betty et al, 2007;Cruickshank et al, 1934;Cohressen et al, 2005).…”

Point-of-care (POC) diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (BV) using VGTest™ ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) in a routine ambulatory care gynecology clinic

“…The gram stain with determination of Nugent score is a time-consuming method not always suitable for clinics having high number of patient visits and routine laboratory work flow. Saline wet mount microscopy in combination with Whiff test, apparently simple and quick to perform, distinguishes normal lactobacillus flora from colonization with other bacteria and microbes and remains the preferred method in many ambulatory women's health care clinics for screening of BV [2,5,10,11].…”

“…The vaginal malodor termed ''fishy'' odor, released upon addition of a drop of alkali solution to vaginal fluid [2,3], led to diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (BV).…”

Different method for diagnosis bacterial vaginosis in married woman in Hilla city

“…homogenous milky discharge was detected by examination after speculation. Whiff test was done by mixing the vaginal discharge from a swab with a drop of 10% KOH; a positive result is a -fishy‖ amine odor (14).…”