Author: Li Houmin (Peking University People's Hospital)
Vulvovaginal mycosis is a common fungal infectious disease, which is manifested by increased vaginal discharge after infection, severe itching and burning sensation in the vulva and vagina, painful urination, often redness and edema around the vulva, which seriously affects the quality of life, making patients very painful and ashamed to talk.
There are often female patients who have such doubts: Is my disease because my underwear is washed with my family and my partner's socks, and I have infected my family's athlete's foot? And because of this, it is resentful.
So, is "his" tinea pedis the "culprit" of "your" vaginal fungal disease? Or did he unjustly carry the "black cauldron"?
Let's find out the truth and see what these two common fungal diseases are all about.
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
1. How is vulvovaginal mycosis obtained?
Vulvovaginal mycosis, also known as vaginal candidiasis, is usually a fungal infectious disease caused by the abnormal proliferation of candida in the vagina.
Its pathogen is called Candida, which is another common pathogenic fungus in addition to the dermatophytes that causes "beriberi".
Candida is widely present in nature and can also parasitize on normal human skin, mouth, gastrointestinal tract, anus and vaginal mucosa, but does not cause disease in immunocompetent people, and is a typical "conditional pathogenic bacteria".
The main one, called Candida albicans, is the candida that most often causes vulvovaginal fungal disease. In addition, there are a few other pathogenic bacteria in the genus Candida, such as Candida closus, Astryloid Candida, candida tropicalis and so on.
As mentioned above, the pathogenicity of Candida is relative, this bacterium is normally oval in shape, in a symbiotic state with the body, called "colonization", does not cause disease.
The source of Candida infection can be exogenous, that is, infected by contact with external bacteria, such as obtained from the hospital environment, but most of the infection belongs to endogenous infection, that is, Candida that originally exists in its own oropharynx, digestive tract, vagina, etc., due to changes in the internal and external environment and the decline in human immune function, from "harmless colonization" to pathogenesis, morphologically, it also changes from oval spores to filamentous pseudocephae, thereby causing symptoms and leading to disease.
Candida prefers an acidic environment and normally balances with the microbial flora within the vagina.
In some cases, such as pregnant women, diabetic patients, long-term use of antibiotics leading to dysbacteriosis, etc., Candida in the vagina due to changes in hormone levels, the decline of the patient's immunity, and the weakening of microbial checks and balances in the vagina, and excessive proliferation, causing symptoms, leading to disease.
Second, "your" vaginal fungal disease has nothing to do with "other" tinea pedis
After recognizing the cause of vulvovaginal candidiasis, we can wash away the injustice of "vaginal fungal disease caused by tinea pedis infection".
We know that the pathogen of "athlete's foot" is dermatophytes, even if it is because of co-washing, close contact and other factors, resulting in skin ringworm bacteria in contact with the vulva vaginal skin, they are also difficult to survive and multiply in the acidic environment of the vagina, so it will not lead to the occurrence of vulvovaginal fungal diseases.
Dermatophytes can infect the skin in the groin, causing "tinea pectoris", because it is sweaty, damp and airtight, and the stratum corneum of the skin also provides favorable conditions for the growth of dermatophytes. But that's the end of it.
Therefore, beriberi and vaginal fungal disease are two very different diseases, and close contact with patients with athlete's foot and co-washing of clothes will not lead to the occurrence of vaginal candidiasis.
Dr. Wang Fang of Peking University People's Hospital participated in the writing of this article
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