Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among Egyptian women using culture and Latex agglutination: cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND This is a cross-sectional study carried out in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Kasr Al- Ainy Cairo University Hospitals. METHODS One thousand female patients in the child bearing period (age 18-45 yrs) were included in this study. These females were non-pregnant and non-menstruating with no douching or intercourse for at least 2-3 days, no use of antibiotics, anti-protozoal or steroids for the past 15 days complaining of vaginal discharge with or without itching, burning sensation or both. Vaginal swabs were obtained from all patients for examination by direct wet mount examination, Giemsa staining, Modified Diamond culture and latex agglutination test Kalon) to detect the presence of Trichomonas vaginalis infection. RESULTS The prevalence of trichomonas infection was 50 cases, latex agglutination test detected 50 positive cases, 30 of which were also positive by culture, and only 10 were detected both by Giemsa staining and by wet mount. The wet mount, Giemsa staining and Kalon latex test had sensitivities of 33.3, 33.3% and 100% respectively while their specificities were 100%, 100% and 97.9% respectively. CONCLUSION Screening tests should be done routinely to depict cases of T. vaginalis infection and should be included in the control programs of sexually transmitted infections. Although wet mount is not a sensitive method for diagnosis of T. vaginalis yet, it is a good positive one. Staining is only useful when there is heavy T. vaginalis infection. Latex agglutination is a highly sensitive, simple, rapid and cost effective test. It provides results within 2-3 minutes and it has the potential for use in screening and diagnosis of T. vaginalis infection.