ABSTRACT
The internist deals with infectious diseases that are primarily monoetiological: a single organism is responsible for a given set of symptoms. Although the obstetrician/ gynecologist also deals with monoetiological disease, the pathogenic spectrum is often different. The principal infectious disease pattern in obstetrics and gynecology is one of polymicrobial infection in which microaerophilic and obligatory anaerobic bacteria frequently function. When the 10 most common bacterial pathogens for the internist and the obstetrician/gynecologist are compared, the degree of overlap is not significant. On the other hand, when bacterial isolates from the intravascular compartment are contrasted, the differences are obvious (Table 1).
