Background: Candidiasis is an opportunistic infection caused by a yeast-like fungus, Candida. The fungi are endogenous in man, occurring as part of the harmless commensals of the genital, gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, human oral and other surfaces. The study aim to determine vulvovaginal candidiasis in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at the Mercy Hospital, Abak Local Government Area. Methods: A total number of 50 samples of high vaginal swabs were collected from pregnant women with symptoms of vaginal infection and investigated for Candida isolates using standard techniques. Results: In this study, 25(50%) pregnant women were presented with vaginal discharges, 22(44%) with itching and 3(6%) with burn. The highest prevalence of Candida albicans (C. albicans) was noted among pregnant women of the age group 26-35year (56.7%) followed by those of age 16-25years, (33.3%) and those of age 36-45year (10%), Age group 26-35years had the highest occurrence of C. albicans . The second trimester pregnant women were most infected with C. albicans (56.7%). The 1st and 3rd trimester pregnant women recorded low prevalent rates of 16% and 26.7%, respectively. Conclusion: In this study the high prevalence of C. albicans was due to many different reasons such as: suppression of the immune system due to the pregnancy, prolonged and misuse of antibiotics which destroy the good and beneficial bacteria resulting in the reduction of vaginal immunity.

The study was undertaken to examine the response of ammonia oxidizing bacteria to different heavy metal salt in an elevated concentration. Surface soil samples at depth of 0-15 cm were collected at random from Akwa Ibom State University in Akwa Ibom State, soil sample from University of Nigeria, Nsukka and from solid waste disposal site in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The response of heavy metal salt on Ammonia Oxidizing bacteria(AOB) isolated from soil samples were investigated by supplementing different heavy metal salts namely, copper(Cu),nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) at four loading rates(100,200,500,1000 µg/ml) in mineral salt broth with Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) isolate. The cultures were incubated for 7 days. Growth of AOB was measured by withdrawing samples from the medium every 24 hours and absorbance of the turbidity measured at 600 nanometre using spectrophotometer. All bacteria showed high tendency to decrease optical density while increasing metal concentration in the medium. Tolerance for the metal ions was dependent on concentration, time and the isolate tested. All the Ammonia oxidizing bacterial (AOB) showed a high level of tolerance for the metals tested, and exhibited good growth at all metal salt concentrations tested. These make the nitrifying bacteria attractive potential candidates for further investigations regarding their ability to remove metals from contaminated soil.IMPORTANCE: The aim of this study is tolerance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria growth to heavy metal. Nitrifying bacteria remain a good option for bioremediation of soil and waste dump, since it is regarded as eco-friendly and efficient in biosorption of heavy metal. The study is significant to the field of environmental microbiology by adding to knowledge in bioremediation.