PREVALENCE OF TRICHOMONAS VAGINALIS AMONG THE SEXUAL PARTNERS OF WOMEN WITH TRICHOMONIASIS IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis among the sexual partners of women with Trichomoniasis. While 103 female patients were found to have T. vaginalis using both direct wet mount microscopy and culture, only 44(42.7%) male contacts reported for screening. Trichomonas vaginalis was isolated from 20(45.5%) of the 44 male contact investigated, whilst there was no laboratory evidence of the agent in 13(29.6%) of the study group. Amongst the 60 control subjects, T. vaginalis was recovered from 7(11.7%) of them. The difference in the occurrence of T. vaginalis between the patients and the control group was highly statistically significant (p<0.001). This implies that in most cases, infestation with T. vaginalis in the male is silent and might represent a carrier state. Eight (40%) of the 20 men with Trichomonas vaginalis and 43.2% of the 44 men investigated were between 20 and 29 years and this parallels that of other sexually transmitted diseases. While only 6(30%) of the men with T.vaginalis were diagnosed by direct wet mount preparation, all the 20 (100%) positive cases were diagnosed by culture. This however, indicated the general superiority of culture over fresh smears but it is desirable to use both methods in the diagnosis of Trichomoniasis since they complement each other.


Key Words: Trichomonas vaginalis, Prevalence, Sexual Partners, Trichomoniasis, Ibadan.


(Af J Clinical & Exp Microbiology: 2003 4(2): 107-115)