Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 1;49(11):762-768.
doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001690. Epub 2022 Aug 10.

Positivity and Risk Factors for Trichomonas vaginalis Among Women Attending a Sexual Health Clinic in Melbourne, 2006 to 2019

Esha Abraham, Christopher K Fairley, Ian Denham  1 , Catriona S Bradshaw, Rebecca M Farquharson, Lenka A Vodstrcil, Erica L Plummer, Jason J Ong, Marcus Y Chen, Tiffany R Phillips, Eric P F Chow
Affiliations

Positivity and Risk Factors for Trichomonas vaginalis Among Women Attending a Sexual Health Clinic in Melbourne, 2006 to 2019

Esha Abraham et al. Sex Transm Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Trichomonas vaginalis is not a notifiable disease in Australia in most states, resulting in limited Australian epidemiological studies. This study aimed to examine the positivity of T. vaginalis in women attending the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) and identify associated factors.

Methods: All women 16 years or older who were tested for T. vaginalis at MSHC from 2006 to 2019 were included. The diagnostic method changed from culture to nucleic acid amplification test in August 2018. The annual positivity of T. vaginalis was calculated. Because of the data completeness, we performed a generalized estimating equations multivariable logistic regression using data from 2011 to 2019 to examine factors associated with T. vaginalis positivity.

Results: From 2006 to 2019, 69,739 tests for T. vaginalis were conducted, and 294 tested positive (0.42%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.37%-0.47%). Approximately 60% of women tested reported symptoms. After adjusting for potential confounders including the change in diagnostic method, there was a 21% (95% CI, 12%-31%) annual increase in T. vaginalis positivity between 2011 and 2019. Women with concurrent syphilis had the highest odds of testing positive for T. vaginalis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 21.55; 95% CI, 6.96-66.78), followed by women who had injected drugs in the last 12 months (aOR, 6.99; 95% CI, 4.11-11.87), were 35 years or older (aOR, 3.47; 95% CI, 2.26-5.35), or had concurrent chlamydia (aOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.05-2.99).

Conclusions: The rising positivity of T. vaginalis at MSHC irrespective of change in diagnostic method suggests a concurrent community-wide rise in Melbourne. Given the rising positivity, testing informed by risk factors should be considered.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest and Sources of Funding: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. E.P.F.C. is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant (GNT1172873). C.K.F. and C.S.B. are each supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership Investigator Grant (GNT1172900 and GNT1173361, respectively).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Annual number of cases and test positivity, including the 95% confidence intervals of T. vaginalis among women attending the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between 2006 and 2019. Culture was used as the primary diagnostic method from January 2006 to July 2018. Nucleic acid amplification test was used as the primary diagnostic method between August 2018 and December 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rowley J Vander Hoorn S Korenromp E, et al. . Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and syphilis: Global prevalence and incidence estimates, 2016. Bull World Health Organ 2019; 97:548–562P. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gottlieb SL Low N Newman LM, et al. . Toward global prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs): The need for STI vaccines. Vaccine 2014; 32:1527–1535. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Petrin D Delgaty K Bhatt R, et al. . Clinical and microbiological aspects of Trichomonas vaginalis. Clin Microbiol Rev 1998; 11:300–317. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carey JC, Yaffe SJ, Catz C. The vaginal infections and prematurity study: An overview. Clin Obstet Gynecol 1993; 36:809–820. - PubMed
    1. Van Gerwen OT Craig-Kuhn MC Jones AT, et al. . Trichomoniasis and adverse birth outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BJOG 2021; 128:1907–1915. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources