ABSTRACT
Almost a century ago, Curtis et al.2 reported that Gramstained purulent vaginal discharges contained mainly gramnegative bacilli that he and his colleagues were unable to cultivate. It was not until 1953 that Leopold3 succeeded in isolating such bacteria from men with prostatitis and women with cervicitis. The organism was named Haemophilus vaginalis by Gardner and Dukes in 19554 because it was a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that could be isolated on blood agar and it was believed to be responsible for a characteristic vaginal discharge.
