Fatemeh Mohseni - M.Sc. of Microbiology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Dezful Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran.
Zahra Khoshnood - Assistant professor of Microbiology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Dezful Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran.

Introduction and Objectives: Pap smear is a screening test for diagnosing cervical cancer in females and also many microbial infections can be detectet by this test. The aim of this study was to the investigation of the Fungal Infections in pap smear samples of women of Ahvaz, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this research study, totally 200 Pap smear samples were collected from pathology laboratories in Ahvaz, Iran. The samples were stained using the conventional Papanicolaou technique, and hematoxylin staining, then evaluated by microscopy. For positive samples, Corn Meal Agar culture was used for chlamydospore production by Candida albicans, then samples were cultured on CHROM agar Candida medium. After incubation, growth coloration of Candida isolates compared with those of standard patterns. Result: The results indicated that 4.5% samples had Candida vulvovaginitis, 88% cases were Candida albicans and 11% case was C. tropicalis. 9 strains were investigated for the presence of the Candida colonies, According to the Corn Meal Agar culture and CHROM agar Candida medium results, the formation of green or blue-green in 8 strains indicated the species Candida albicans, and the FMC9 strain was blue with a dark grey with blue metallic violet margins was indicated Candida tropicalis. Conclusion: Pap smear is an easy and economical screening method to detect Fungal Infections of the cervix. Corn Meal Agar and Chrom Agar can be combined for identification and accurate Separation between species of Candida. According to microscopic evaluations, the fungal infection causes changes in normality and the adhesion of cells.

Candida albicans, papsmear, Fungal Infections, Corn Meal Agar