Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the upper genital tract in women that can include endometritis, parametritis, salpingitis, oophoritis, tubo-ovarian abscess, and peritonitis. The spectrum of disease ranges from subclinical, asymptomatic infection to severe, life-threatening illness; sequelae include chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. PID is diagnosed cl...

OBJECTIVE The presence of enterobacteria such as Escherichia coli in the vagina of normal women is not synonymous with infection. However, vaginal E. coli may also cause symptomatic infections. We examined bacterial virulence properties that may promote symptomatic female reproductive tract infections (RTI) and neonatal sepsis. METHODS E. coli isolated as the causative agent from cases of vag...