Field, N;
Clifton, S;
Alexander, S;
Ison, CA;
Khanom, R;
Saunders, P;
Hughes, G;
... Sonnenberg, P; + view all
(2018)
Trichomonas vaginalis infection is uncommon in the British general population: implications for clinical testing and public health screening.
Sexually Transmitted Infections
, 94
(3)
pp. 226-229.
10.1136/sextrans-2016-052660.
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Variable use of new molecular assays, asymptomatic infections and a lack of population data mean that the population burden of Trichomonas vaginalis is uncertain. We investigated the age-specific prevalence of T. vaginalis within the sexually active British general population to inform testing strategies. METHODS: Britain's third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyle (Natsal-3) is a probability sample survey of 15 162 individuals aged 16-74 years, undertaken during 2010-2012. Urine from 4386 participants aged 16-44 years reporting ≥1 lifetime sexual partner was tested for T. vaginalis using in-house real-time PCR. RESULTS: Urinary T. vaginalis was detected in seven women and no men providing urine samples, giving a weighted prevalence estimate of 0.3% (95% CI 0.1% to 0.5%) in sexually experienced women aged 16-44 years. Of the seven women with T. vaginalis detected, four were of black or mixed ethnicity (prevalence 2.7% (0.9% to 7.7%) in this group) and five reported recent partners of black or mixed ethnicity. Six of the women reported symptoms, and five reported sexual health clinic attendance in the past 5 years (prevalence in those reporting clinic attendance: 1.0% (0.4% to 2.3%)). The prevalence of a self-reported history of T. vaginalis (past 5 years) was 0.1% (0.0% to 0.2%) in women and 0.0% (0.0% to 0.2%) in men aged 16-44 years. CONCLUSIONS: Our British population prevalence estimates indicate that T. vaginalis is a rare infection. These data support policies that restrict asymptomatic screening for T. vaginalis and suggest deployment of molecular tests should be focused within clinical settings and guided by symptoms and local demography.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Trichomonas vaginalis infection is uncommon in the British general population: implications for clinical testing and public health screening |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/sextrans-2016-052660 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2016-052660 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | DIAGNOSIS, INFECTION CONTROL, PUBLIC HEALTH, SCREENING, TRICHOMONAS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1520052 |
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