Beneficial bacteria

Colonisation and dominance of lactobacilli are essential traits of a healthy vaginal microbiota. Bifidobacterium may also dominate in less common cases. Lactobacillus produce lactic acid, which supports production of bacteriocides, potent antimicrobial peptides. We class dominance as being over 80% based on experience and studies.

For this measure, we have divided the total number of beneficial bacteria by total bacteria in the sample, to generate a percentage. Please note this result is not a true representation of the whole microbiome, but an arbitrary figure to show how much beneficial bacteria are dominating, or not, in an individual sample. 

The following classifications have been provided and individual test results will be allocated one of the following:

Over 95%: HIGH 

This is a positive rating and overall indicates a healthy microbiome. Please review all microbes present for completeness.

80% - 95%: MEDIUM 

This is reasonable, but there may be room for opportunistic microbes to proliferate at this level. Please review opportunistic bacteria present.

<80%: LOW

Ideally we want to see lactobacillus dominating at a higher level than this. Please review opportunistic bacteria present.