Prevalence of the trichomonas vaginalis infection in a tertiary care hospital in rural bangalore, southern India.

BACKGROUND The infection with Trichomonas Vaginalis is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in humans. The prevalence of this infection has been reported to be between 2 to 8%, depending on the different socio-cultural conditions. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of T. vaginalis in the women who were referred to the gynaecologic clinics at the MVJ medical college, Bangalore, India. METHODS This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 750 women who were referred to the gynaecologic clinics from October 2010 to September 2012. Vaginal samples were obtained from them and they were examined by wet mount and culture methods for the detection of T. vaginalis. RESULTS Sixteen out of the 750 vaginal swab specimens (2.1%) were culture positive for T. vaginalis and 13 among these positive specimens (1.7%) were wet mount positive. Only 12 of the 42 patients who were clinically diagnosed as having the T. vaginalis infection, were confirmed by the culture method. Five hundred and fifty of the participants (73.3%) had at least one of signs and symptoms of trichomoniasis. No statistical correlation was observed between the clinical manifestations and the parasitological results (p>0.05). CONCLUSION This study showed a low prevalence of the T. vaginalis infection in the study population. Since the clinical signs of trichomonal vaginitis are the same as those of other STDs, a confirmatory laboratory diagnosis is necessary. Wet smears, as well as culture, are sensitive for the detection of T. vaginalis.