Question 2 of 17

When evaluating a vaginal discharge:

Gonorrhea or chlamydia are the usual causes.

Symptoms allow confident differentiation of causality.

Candidiasis is usually associated with a pH of greater than 5.

Wet mount is seldom useful in making the diagnosis.

Gardnerella is always pathologic.

Symptoms alone do not allow confident diagnosis of the cause of vaginosis, although lack of itch makes candida less likely and lack of odor makes bacterial vaginosis unlikely. Gardnerella may be part of the normal vaginal flora. Thirty percent of women with vaginal complaints go without clear diagnosis even after examination with techniques more comprehensive than usually available in the emergency department. An association between Chlamydia and discharge has not been confirmed. Wet mount remains the best way to make a diagnosis.

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