Objective: Candida vaginitis (CV), which involves three in four women at least once in their lifetimes, poses a significant risk to pregnancy. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of CV in women undergoing followup routine pregnancy examinations, its distribution by trimester, and the most common causative species and to compare identification methods.

Methods: Posterior fornix swab samples were taken from 250 randomly selected pregnant women presenting to our hospital between April and June 2021. The samples were evaluated by direct microscopic examinations, Gram staining, and fungal cultures (CHROMagar Candida [CAC] and Sabouraud glucose agar). Yeast isolates were identified by germ-tube tests, micromorphology on corn meal–Tween 80 agar, colony appearance on CAC, and the MALDI-TOF MS.

Results: The prevalence of fungal vaginitis was 43.2%. Of the 108 diagnosed patients with fungal vaginitis, 20.4% experienced recurrent vaginitis, and 82.4% were in the second or third trimester (p>.05). The most common fungal species were Candida albicans (49.6%), followed by C. glabrata (35.3%), C. krusei (7.5%), C. kefyr (3.4%), C. tropicalis (1.7%), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (1.7%), and C. dubliniensis (0.8%). Polyfungal populations were present in 10 cases (9.3%), in which C. albicans + C. glabrata (60%) was the most common coexistence.

Conclusion: While the rate of C. albicans identified as the causative agent of vaginitis in our hospital has declined in the last decade, the increase in C. glabrata and C. krusei is alarming.