Causes of cervicitis

Clinically, the causes of cervicitis include mechanical stimulation or injury, such as sexual intercourse, abortion and delivery lacerations and bacterial invasion; pathogen invasion, commonly general pyogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus aureus, Gonorrhea, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, viruses, actinomycetes, Trichomonas, and Ameba can all cause cervicitis.

Often due to incomplete treatment of acute cervicitis, pathogens hide in the cervical mucosa and form chronic inflammation. It is common after childbirth, abortion or surgical injury to the cervix, when pathogens invade and cause infection. The pathogens of chronic cervicitis are mainly Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli and anaerobic bacteria. Currently, chronic cervicitis caused by Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae is also increasing. In addition, some viruses such as herpes simplex virus have also become common pathogens.

1. Causes

Mechanical irritation or injury

The occurrence of cervicitis is related to sexual life. Natural or artificial abortion, diagnostic curettage and childbirth can cause damage to the cervix and lead to inflammation. Adult women should pay attention to contraception, avoid or reduce artificial abortion surgery, pay attention to postpartum hygiene, and avoid postpartum infection.

Pathogen infection

It occurs after childbirth, abortion or surgery that damages the cervix. Cervicitis can be treated with some professional gynecological drugs.

The main pathogens are:

1) Pathogens of sexually transmitted diseases: Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Mycoplasma chlamydia.

2) Endogenous pathogens: Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli and anaerobic bacteria, etc.

3) Others: Protozoa include Trichomonas and Ameba. In special cases, they are caused by chemical substances and radiation.

Chemical irritation

Flushing the vagina with certain acidic or alkaline solutions, or inserting suppositories into the vagina, can cause cervicitis.

2. Pathogenesis

(1) Under the microscope, the erosion surface is covered by a complete single layer of columnar epithelium of the endocervical canal. Because the columnar epithelium is thin and the underlying stroma is red, it looks like erosion to the naked eye, but it is not true erosion caused by epithelial shedding or ulceration.

(2) Colposcopy shows outward displacement of the original squamous-columnar junction.

(3) Lymphocytes that function as immune responses exist in the normal cervical stroma; the infiltration of lymphocytes in the cervical stroma does not necessarily mean chronic cervicitis.

Only in some physiological situations, such as adolescent and pregnant women, due to increased estrogen levels, the columnar epithelium of the cervical canal proliferates and moves outward, and the external os of the cervix can be seen to be red and granular. This is cervical pseudoerosion and does not belong to pathological cervical erosion; all others are inflammatory erosions.