Performing Trichomonas vaginalis culture in research studies in low-resource settings

Trichomonas vaginalis is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide, with an estimated 156 million new cases per year globally.1 Incidence and prevalence are highest in low-income settings, especially the African region.2 If symptomatic, T. vaginalis causes vaginal discharge and dysuria. Untreated T. vaginalis has been associated with adverse birth outcomes and an increased risk of HIV acquisition and transmission.3 Antimicrobial resistance to 5-nitroimidazole agents such as metronidazole is reported to occur in about 5%–10% of isolates in the USA.4 T. vaginalis can be diagnosed by wet mount microscopy, antigen detection test, nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) and culture.5 NAAT is the diagnostic standard in high-resource settings as it achieves the highest sensitivity. Culture is not routinely performed as it has lower sensitivity, requires incubation and takes several days before results are available.4 5...
Source: Sexually Transmitted Infections - Category: Sexual Medicine Authors: Tags: PostScript Source Type: research