Prevalence and Comparison of Diagnostic Methods for Trichomonas vaginalis Infection in Pregnant Women in Argentina

Abstract

Hormone changes produced during pregnancy predispose a higher incidence of infections of the lower genital tract. This leads to maternal and perinatological complications. The diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis infection during pregnancy is of great importance as such infections are related to premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery, and low birth weight [1,2].Trichomoniasis is a sexually-transmitted disease associated with urethritis, vaginitis, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and tubal infertility [3][4][5], and it is also linked to cervical cancer [6]. Up to 10 to 50% of infected women are asymptomatic and 50% of these women will develop clinical symptoms during the subsequent 6 months [7]. Moreover, reinfection may occur by sexual contact with the man who acts as an asymptomatic carrier [8].The laboratory diagnosis by microscopic examination has low sensitivity (35-80%) mainly in asymptomatic patients due to the low number of organisms in the sample. This is why it is necessary to implement more sensitive methodologies [9]. In the case of direct microscopic examinations, the detection of T. vaginalis depends on the microscopist's expertise and on the swift transport and processing of the sample, in order to avoid the loss of motility of the parasite [4]. Consequently, the liquid culture medium for T. vaginalis is considered the most accurate method (gold-standard) for the diagnosis of trichomoniasis [6,[10][11][12][13].The objectives of this work were to survey the prevalence of infection in asymptomatic and symptomatic pregnant women and to assess the utility of different microscopic methodologies for the diagnosis of trichomoniasis in pregnant women and to compare them with the method using the liquid culture medium.A total of 597 vaginal exudates from pregnant women were Prevalence and Comparison of Diagnostic Methods for Trichomonas vaginalis Infection in Pregnant Women in ArgentinaKorean J Parasitol. Vol. 48, No. 1: 61-65, March 2010 DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2010 61 Abstract: The objectives of this study were to conduct a prevalence survey of trichomoniasis in pregnant women and to evaluate the utility of different methods for its diagnosis. A total of 597 vaginal exudates from pregnant women who were examined at the Hospital de Clinicas in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1 August 2005 to 31 January 2007, were prospectively and consecutively evaluated. The investigation of Trichomonas vaginalis was made by different microscopic examinations, and culture on liquid medium. The sensitivity and specificity of the microscopic examinations were assessed considering culture on liquid medium as the "gold standard". The prevalence of T. vaginalis obtained by culture on liquid medium was 4.0% (24/597). The prevalence of T. vaginalis obtained by direct wet smear, prolonged May-Grunwald Giemsa staining, and sodium acetate-formalin (SAF)/methylene blue staining-fixing technique was 1.8%, 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively. The sensitivity of the direct wet smear was 45.8%, that of the prolonged May-Grunwald Giemsa s...

Trichomonas vaginalis Infection among Pregnant Women in Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia

“…Also, the prevalence of this study was comparable with the study conducted in Iraq 5.4% [23] and Argentina 4% [24]. The observed difference in the rate of infection could be due to variation in age distribution, personal hygiene practice, climatic conditions, socioeconomic and literacy status of the pregnant women.…”

Urinogenital trichomoniasis in women in relation to candidiasis and gonorrhoea in University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital

“…In this study, the occurrence of trichomoniasis in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Port Harcourt is low (4.5%) when compared with the work of Abdurehman et al (2013), in Southwest Ethiopia (4.98%), Ogbona et al (1991), 37.6% andWHO (2001) 32%, but high in comparison with the work done in Sagamu by Anate (1991), (0%) and Perazzi et al (2010), in Argentina (4%). It was discovered that none of the ten (10) women had T. vaginalis as a single infection but were co-infected with C. albicans and N. gonorrhea.…”

Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis in Pregnant Women in Zanjan, Northwest of Iran

“…In this cross-sectional study a total of 1000 vaginal samples from pregnant women who referred to obstetrics clinics at the Hospitals of Zanjan, were examined for detection of T. vaginalis using direct microscopic examination (KOH) and Dorsset culture medium with observation of the parasite (3,10) between July 2009 to June 2010. The present study was approved by the University Ethics Committee (code number: 882136) which provided written informed consent, subsequently attending underwent clinical examinations.…”

“…This parasitic infection may lead to vaginitis, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory infection, and tubal infertility in females as well as urethritis and prostatitis in males (1,2). In addition, it is also related to cervical cancer and an important complication in pregnancy which has been related with prematurity and low birth weight infants (3). Previous data have shown that more than 10 to 50% of women with trichomoniasis are asymptomatic and probably clinical manifestation will develop after half year of infection in 50% of those individuals (3,4).…”