PREVALENCE OF TRICHOMONAS VAGINALIS AMONG FEMALES IN OSUMENYI, NNEWI LGA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the motile parasitic protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis). Trichomoniasis is one of the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in young, sexually active women (Garber, 2005). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that its prevalence ranges from 170 million to 190 million cases worldwide each year (Gross and Tyring, 2011).Humans are the only known host of T. vaginalis. Unlike many protozoan parasites, it possesses trophozoite form and lacks the cyst stage. Transmission occurs predominantly via sexual intercourse. The organism is most commonly isolated from vaginal secretions in women and urethral secretions in men (Workowski and Berman, 2006). Trichomoniasis can also be spread vertically from mother to baby during childbirth 5% of the time (Trichomoniasis. org., 2009).
Women with Trichomoniasis may experience various symptoms, including a frothy yellow-green vaginal discharge and vulvar irritation. Men with Trichomoniasis may experience nongonococcal urethritis (Francis et al., 2008). A number of studies have highlighted the fact that at least 80% of T. vaginalis infections are asymptomatic. However, even asymptomatic infections are a public health concern. In addition to the risk of transmission to sex partners, T. vaginalis infection has been associated with as much as a 2.7-fold increase in the risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) acquisition, a 1.3-fold increase in the risk of preterm labour, infertility and a 4.7-fold increase in the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (Poole and McClelland,2013), prostate cancer (Sutcliffe et al., 2006) and cervical cancer (Gram et al., 1992). Trichomoniasis is thought to be widely underdiagnosed due to a variety of factors, including a lack of routine testing, (Van der Pol, 2007) (the low sensitivity of a commonly used diagnostic technique (wet mount microscopy), and nonspecific symptomatology. Self-diagnosis and self-treatment or diagnosis by practitioners without adequate laboratory testing may also contribute to misdiagnosis (Krieger et al., 1988).
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