Actinomyces-like organisms infection in intrauterine devices wearers

The prevalence of actinomyces-like organisms in cervicovaginal smears of 2,327 Chinese women, including 1,279 intrauterine devices (IUD) wearers and 1,048 non wearers, was investigated. Cervical smears were stained by the Papanicolaou method for the microscopic examination of actinomyces-like organisms. The relationship between actinomyces-like organisms infection and occupations, age, duration of IUD wearing and clinical symptoms were analysis. The result showed that the overall detection rate of actinomyces-like organisms in 2,327 women was 0.69%. The detection rates in IUD wearers and non-wearers were 1.1% and 0.2%, respectively, which were significantly different (P < 0.01). The rate of actinomyces-like organisms infection was significantly higher in women wearing IUD for more than seven years. Whereas the occupation or age of women did not affect the detection rate significantly.