Prevalence ofTrichomoniasisin Hue City, Vietnam: a serological study

The overall objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of trichomoniasis in Hue City, Vietnam. The study included 249 symptomatic and 534 asymptomatic women, 38 healthy men, and 50 children. All women were subjected to standard clinical examination and vaginal samples were collected for identification ofT. vaginalisby wet mount and cultivation. Sera from 46 women affected by trichomoniasis and 8 male sexual partners were used to set up immunoenzymatic techniques for epidemiological studies.Serological reactivity of patients affected by trichomoniasis was studied for a 5 months period after treatment to estimate persistence of anti-trichomonas antibodies after eradication of infection. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction has been used for detection ofT. vaginalis,M. hominis,U. urealyticumafter treatment.The prevalence of trichomoniasis by microscopic examination in symptomatic and asymptomatic groups were 19.3% (42/243, 95% CI = 12.8% - 22.7%) and 0.7% (4/534, 95% CI = 0.18% - 1.8%), respectively. ELISA assay using whole cells for detection of antibody in sera yielded high sensitivity and specificity (93.48% and 84.88%, respectively).Seroprevalence was 18.9% in women (31.3% in symptomatic, 13.3% in asymptomatic women) and 8.7% in men. Serological follow-up by ELISA showed the trending line of seraT. vaginalisantibody going down after 4-5 months in the group of recovered patients, while unrecovered/re-infected patients kept the high level of antibody.