Generally speaking, bacteria and trichomonas infections can be detected by microscopy, but bacterial vaginosis(BV) often goes undiagnosed with microscopy only. Therefore, we recommend the combination of microscopy and BV test kit in order to increase the diagnosis rate.

5 Items included in Routine Leucorrhea Inspection

1. pH value. After puberty, mucosal epithelial cells tend to produce a large amount of glycogen under the stimulus of sex hormones. The glycogen then transfers to lactic acid by bacillus vaginalis, leading to acidulous vaginal secretion, which prevents the breeding of germs in vagina, and this is called self-purification. The pH value is a numeric scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of the samples. The pH value of leucorrhea from BV patients ranges from 5 to 6, higher than the normal value 4.

2. There are 4 cleaning levels of vagina

3. Bacteria and trichomonas. Bacteria and trichomonas in leucorrhea can be observed by the microscope, and the existence of these pathogens is represented by the plus sign (+).

4. Whiff test. Leucorrhea from BV patients release fishy smells after alkalized with potassium hydroxide.
5. Clue cells. Clue cells refer to the vaginal epithelial cells with agglomerations of bacillus around the cell edges, and it can be observed that the cell edges are punctiform or granular using the microscope. Clue cell is the most specific character of bacterial vaginosis, and is an important indicator for the diagnosis for this disease.

How to check
It is easy to conduct the routine leucorrhea inspection. During this non-invasive and painless inspection, doctors first take some vaginal discharges and then carry out the assay by microscopes and test kits. Leucorrhea is a significant indicator of women’s physical health, and those who find their vaginal discharge abnormal should seek medical advice urgently.