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. 2025 Mar 28;25(1):435.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-10815-8.

The prevalence trends of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among women in Jingzhou, central of China, 2019-2023

Yan Yang #  1 , Yue Qu #  2 , Bin Yan  1 , Changzheng Wang  1 , Shun Liu  3
Affiliations

The prevalence trends of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among women in Jingzhou, central of China, 2019-2023

Yan Yang et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections globally, with significant regional variations in its prevalence. This study aimed to examine the epidemiological characteristics of T. vaginalis infection in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China.

Methods: To obtain the prevalence of T. vaginalis infection among age groups and different years, a total of 115,775 patients from 2019 to 2023 were included in this study. Two detection methods including immunochromatographic assay and wet mount microscopy were used to detect the pathogens in vaginal swabs samples including T. vaginalis with other vaginal pathogens, such as Candida albicans (C. albicans) and Gardnerella Vaginalis (G. vaginalis).

Results: The overall prevalence of T. vaginalis in Jingzhou was 3.41%, demonstrating a decreasing trend from 2019 to 2023, with a particularly significant decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2022 (P < 0.001). The highest positive rate of T. vaginalis was observed in the 45-54 years age group (4.87%), while the lowest rate was observed in the 25-34 years age group (2.37%). The prevalence of T. vaginalis in pregnant women (0.83%) was lower than that in non-pregnant women (1.87%), with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). T. vaginalis had co-infection with other pathogens (2.76%) compared to single infection (0.65%), and the most common co-infection pattern was T. vaginalis and G. vaginalis (2.09%). The results showed that there was relative high consistency (Kappa: 0.841) between the immunochromatographic assay and wet mount microscopy method for the detection of T. vaginalis. Additionally, elevated leukocyte levels were associated with a higher prevalence of T. vaginalis.

Conclusion: The overall infection rate of T. vaginalis was 3.41%, showing a decreasing trend in prevalence in Jingzhou from 2019 to 2023. The prevalence was the highest in the 45-54 years age group. The study suggested that the immunochromatographic assay should be widely implemented as a screening method for T. vaginalis in primary healthcare facilities.

Keywords: Trichomonas vaginalis; COVID-19; Immunochromatographic assay; Prevalence; Wet mount microscopy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Jingzhou Hospital Affiliated to Yangtze University (2024-131-01). Consent for publication: Not applicable. This manuscript does not contain any personal data in any form. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Clinical trial number: Not applicable.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The prevalence of T. vaginalis with seasons in Jingzhou, 2019–2023
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Microscopic view of T. vaginalis trophozoites. The vaginal discharge sample was prepared and examined directly by wet mount microscopy (4× ocular lens, 10× objective lens). Scale bar = 20 μm. The red arrow indicates T. vaginalis trophozoites
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The prevalence of T. vaginalis among women by age groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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