Clue cells are epithelial cells of the vagina that get their distinctive stippled appearance by being covered with bacteria.
They are a medical sign of bacterial vaginosis, particularly that caused by Gardnerella vaginalis, a group of Gram-variable bacteria. This bacterial infection gives a foul, fishy smelling, thin gray vaginal discharge. Also the vaginal pH is increased above 5.5. Normal vaginal pH varies around 4.5.
Famous quotes containing the words clue and/or cell:
“The mystery of the evening-star brilliant in silence and distance between the downward-surging plunge of the sun and the vast, hollow seething of inpouring night. The magnificence of the watchful morning-star, that watches between the night and the day, the gleaming clue to the two opposites.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Why inspire in us a horror of our being?... To look upon the universe as a prison cell and all men as criminals about to be executed is the idea of a fanatic.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)