Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis in vaginal swabs from sex workers in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines as detected by PCR

ABSTRACT

A prevalence study was conducted on <I>Trichomonas vaginalis</I> infection among female sex workers attending the Reproductive Health and Wellness Center of Angeles City, Pampanga in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using <I>T. vaginalis</I>-specific primers TV3⁄7 was utilized to detect <I>T. vaginalis</I> in vaginal swabs from the study population. The lower limit sensitivity of <I>T. vaginalis</I> detection by the PCR assay was found to be one trichomonad. The overall prevalence in 377 women was 9.55%. More than half of the study subjects are 23-27 years old. However, the largest proportion of positive cases was found among subjects 18-22 years old, making it the age group with the highest <I>T. vaginalis</I> prevalence (12.84%).