Anastasia Petrenko

Age: 11-year-old female

Examiner

Marking Scheme

History

  • Ask about current symptoms onset
  • Ask how may episode she’s had so far in the last 1 year (Recurrent candida is 4 or more episodes of candida infection per year)
  • Ask about vaginal itching, redness, discharge etc.
  • Ask about urinary symptoms including frequency, dysuria, blood in urine etc
  • Ask/Explore hygiene practices; such as douching with water or local irritants such    as soaps, shampoos, shower gels etc.
  • Ask about diabetes as this can cause recurrent candida infection- peeing excessively, drinking excessively, weight loss or weight gain
  • Ask about systemic symptoms- fever, abdominal pain
  • Ask if there is any history of inappropriate contact or sexual abuse – ask if there is any change in her behaviour ( is she withdrawn or not wanting to socialize?)
  • Ask about home situation –who lives at home and ask about school
  • Ask about her general health including her diet
  • Ask Grand mum’s ICE
  • Give a diagnosis of likely vulvovaginal candidiasis and explain to patient’s Grand-Mother Mrs. Kovalenko (or Just Katerina if she prefers this), thank you for sharing all the details about Anastasia’s symptoms.

From everything you’ve described, it does sound like she may be having another episode of vaginal thrush. While thrush isn’t very common in girls her age,  it can happen, especially if certain factors are at play—like using soaps or douching, which can disrupt the natural balance of bacteria and yeast in that area. If Anastasia has been using scented soaps or tight clothing, that could also contribute. However, because this is her third episode in a few months, I think it’s important that we investigate further to ensure we aren’t missing anything else. We’ll do a swab to confirm that it is Candida, the type of yeast that causes thrush, and also check for other potential underlying causes, such as her blood sugar levels to rule out diabetes, as well as her iron levels, since low iron can sometimes make her more prone to infections. In the meantime, we can start her on treatment to relieve her current symptoms and provide some advice to prevent future episodes. For example, avoiding scented soaps, wearing loose cotton underwear, and ensuring good hygiene habits without over washing, drying properly after washing can help.

Management

Management

  • Offer F2F to examine down below and also use of low vulvovaginal swab (NOT HVS in this case due to her age) for culture to confirm candida
  • Offer blood test for diabetes, ferritin, FBC.
  • Offer topical clotrimazole cream 2% TDS for 7 days
  • Hygiene Advice: Avoid synthetic underwear and tight clothing (Use cotton underwear), use non-scented soaps and avoid bubble baths, maintain good vulva hygiene, dry vagina properly after washing, do not use wet wipes on the genital skin
  • Follow up in 7 days to discuss results of swab and see how she is doing
  • Safety-net for worsening symptoms (fever, abdominal pain, unusual discharge)

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