Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis in Pregnant Women in Zanjan, Northwest of Iran

Background: In the last two decades the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are dramatically increased and remain a major public health problem in developing countries. Trichomoniasis is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection caused by Trichomonas vaginalis which is a flagellated protozoon associated with vaginitis, cervicitis and urethritis. Researchers believed that pregnancy is one of the influencing factors of the genital trichomoniasis in women. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of trichomoniasis in pregnant women in Zanjan, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1000 pregnant women were examined for diagnosis of trichomoniasis based on direct microscopic examination and culture method. They referred to the treatment and health centers of Zanjan, Northwest Iran, Demographic and personal information of the subjects were collected and evaluated with questionnaires. Results: Thirty-three out of one thousand examined individuals (3.3%) presented vaginal infection with T. vaginalis. Infection in women with lower gestational age, higher mothers' age, higher parity and living in city were significantly associated with increased risk of vaginal trichomoniasis (P < 0.05). Other variables were not significantly associated with parasite infection. Conclusions: The present study found that the infection with T. vaginalis is a health problem in pregnant women correlated with some epidemiological variables and can be considered with microbiological screening tests during pregnancy.