Risk Factors For Vaginal Trichomoniasis Among Women In Uyo, Nigeria

摘要

In view of the public health importance of trichomoniasis among women, this study assess the prevalence and risk factors associated with this infection. A total of 260 high vaginal swabs were collected from women attending gynaecological and antenatal clinics in Uyo, Nigeria. The samples were subjected to standard parasitological method of diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis. The result showed that 46 (17.7%) of the women examined were infected with T. vaginalis. Age related prevalence of infection showed that subjects aged 21 – 25 years had the highest prevalence of infection (26.9%) while those aged >40 years had the least prevalence (3.6%) and this was statistically significant. Traders (33.3%) had the highest infection rate when compared with other occupational groups (p<.05). Other statistically significant risk factors included, no formal education, single status, pregnant women, primigravidity and the third trimester of pregnancy. Trichomonas is associated with significant obstetric and gynaecological morbidity, there is need for education of at risk women on the modes of transmission as a strategy for prevention and control. Introduction Human trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the protozoan parasite Trichomonas Vaginalis. This infection is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease worldwide 1 . Infection often leads to vaginitis and acute inflammatory disease of the genital mucosa 1 Approximately, about 180 million women are infected with trichomoniasis worldwide annually 2 . In Africa, it is estimated that 2-50% of the population carry the infection 3 . The disease has important medical, social and economic implications. Women who are infected during pregnancy are predisposed to preterm rupture of the placental membrane, preterm labour, delivery of low birth weight infants and increased infant mortality 4,5 . As with other sexually transmitted infections STIs, T. vaginalis infection can increase the risk of transmission to HIV infection 6,7 . The disease has also been reported in the urinary tract, fallopian tubes and pelvis 8,9 and could cause Pneumonia, bronchitis and oral lesion 10,11 . In Nigeria there are documented reports on the prevalence of T. vaginalis 12,13,14,15 but to the best knowledge of the authors, no similar study has been done in this environment. Also despite all these reports there is still paucity of information on the risk factors for trichomonas infection. The aim of this present study therefore, was to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with trichomoniasis infection among women in Uyo, Southern Nigeria. Materials And Methods Study AreaThe study was carried out in Uyo, Southern Nigeria the capital of Akwa Ibom State located in the South-south part of Nigeria. It lies within the tropical rainforest belt of the country on latitudes 5 0 20 ' and 5 0 32' East of the Greenwich Meridian. There are two distinct seasons namely the wet season (March – October) and dry season (November – February). Uyo is relatively dense populated and the general sanitation standard is below average. Most of the inhabitants are of medium and low socio-economic status who live in brick and mud houses. Majority of the women are housewives, petty traders and farmers. There are two government owned tertiary health institutions where cases can be referred, these are the St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, Uyo and University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo.Sample CollectionThe study was conducted between July and October, 2004. Samples were collected from 260 randomly selected women attending the outpatient gynaecological and antenatal clinic of St. Luke’s hospital, Uyo. The high vaginal swabs were collected from the female subjects using a clean sterile vaginal swab sticks after the passages of a sterile bivalve speculum. Questionnaires then were administered to collect data on socio-demographic and obstetric history. The samples were labelled and transported immediately to the l