The Vaginal Microbiota of Adult Malagasy Women of Reproductive Age in the Marovoay District: First Characterization and Exploration of Associations With Human Papillomavirus and Schistosoma haematobium Infections.

Authors

Jana Christina Hey, Johanna Saalfrank, Tahinamandranto Rasamoelina, Anjarasoa Ravo Razafindrakoto, Matthieu Razafindralava, Valeri Gildas Rajaoniarivo, Jean-Marc Kutz, Sonya Ratefiarisoa, Thorsten Thye, Irina Kislaya, Simon Graspeuntner, Zoly Rakotomalala, Bodo Sahondra Randrianasolo, Rivo Solotiana Rakotomalala, Valentina Marchese, Raphael Rakotozandrindrainy, Diavolana Koecher-Andrianarimanana, Pia Rausche, Aaron Remkes, Jürgen May, Pytsje T Hoekstra, Govert J van Dam, Paul L A M Corstjens, Tarik Gheit, Rivo Andry Rakotoarivelo, Corinna Bang, Daniela Fusco

Published in

The Journal of infectious diseases. Volume 234. Issue 1. Pages e90-e100. Aug 03, 2026.

Abstract

The vaginal microbiome plays an important role for women's health. Changes in its composition have been associated with several sexually transmitted infections, including human papillomavirus (HPV) or parasitic infections such as Schistosoma haematobium. In Madagascar, gynecological conditions such as chronic manifestations of S. haematobium infections (female genital schistosomiasis), HPV infections, and cervical cancer are highly prevalent; however, data on the interplay between these conditions and the vaginal microbiota (VM) are still scarce. In addition, the majority of data originates from the Global North, generating a biased understanding of "healthy" VM across different geographic and social contexts. The objective of our study was to characterize for the first time the VM of adult women of reproductive age in Madagascar and to describe the variability of the vaginal environment in the presence of 3 conditions affecting the urogenital tract.
We characterized the VM of 443 participants, identifying the 5 community state types (CSTs I-V), with CST IV (57.1%, diverse) and CST III (34.1%, Lactobacillus iners dominated) as the most prevalent. CSTs were associated with previous antibiotics usage, while variability in the alpha and beta diversity was associated with dietary behavior and previous antibiotic usage. Differential abundance analysis showed variations among specific taxa in HPV-positive and female genital schistosomiasis-positive participants.
With this first study of the VM in Madagascar we contribute to a broader understanding of vaginal health, as well as narrowing the gap of VM research in sub-Saharan Africa by enriching microbiota databases.

PMID:
41639970
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.