Table 1. Parity, PMN, vaginal mucus score and ovarian status (mean ± SD) in cows with and without persistent bacterial infection at 5 (W5) and 7 (W7) weeks postpartum.
| Parameters | No. | Parity | PMN, % |
Vaginal mucus score |
Cows in the luteal phase, n (%) |
|||
| W5 | W7 | W5 | W7 | W5 | W7 | |||
| Cows negative for bacterial infection at both W5 and W7 | 31 | 2.3 ± 1.4 | 1.7 ± 3.7 a | 2.9 ± 3.4 a | 0.8 ± 0.7 a | 1.0 ± 0.9 a | 10 (32.3%) | 12 (38.7%) |
| Cows positive for bacterial infection at W5 but not W7 | 11 | 1.8 ± 0.8 | 10.1 ± 12.7 ab | 6.5 ± 12.4 a | 1.5 ± 1.3 ab | 1.3 ± 0.8 ab | 3 (27.3%) | 4 (36.4%) |
| Cows positive for bacterial infection at W7 but not W5 | 12 | 2.7 ± 1.7 | 5.5 ± 9.0 a | 1.9 ± 3.4 a | 1.2 ± 0.8 ab | 1.3 ± 0.8 ab | 7 (58.3%) | 9 (75.0%) |
| Cows positive for bacterial infection at both W5 and W7 | 10 | 3.1 ± 0.8 | 18.8 ± 11.9 b | 21.8 ± 14.6 b | 2.6 ± 1.4 b | 2.6 ± 1.3 b | 6 (60.0%) | 8 (80.0%) |
| P value* | 0.2 | 0.0003 | 0.0001 | 0.001 | 0.008 | |||
PMN: percentage of neutrophils determined by cytological examination. * Significant difference in PMN and vaginal mucus score according to the presence of bacterial infection within each data column (Kruskal-Wallis test). Different superscript letters within the same column indicate significant differences.