title: Trichomonas vaginalis: an audit of clinical practice and the demography of infected patients at three London genitourinary medicine clinics.
abstract: This audit aimed to review clinical standards for Trichomonas vaginalis against British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) guidelines. Case notes for patients who had a positive microscopy or culture result were reviewed retrospectively. There was a 0.23% positivity rate for T. vaginalis (n = 84 cases); 96% were female with an average age of 33 years, with proportionally more patients seen in the African/Caribbean population, despite the number of cases being comparable between white (n = 36) and African/Caribbean (n = 34) groups. Seventy percent of patients had both microscopy- and culture-positive results for T. vaginalis. Contact tracing occurred in 87% of patients; 56% of these patients confirmed at least one contact had been treated in the last month. Overall, our data demonstrated a lower positivity rate than expected. Wet microscopy and liquid medium cultures were both important in identifying the infection, but more needs to be done to ensure partner notification has been documented and contacts have been treated.
authors: John Hunter Clinic, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK.
authors: Victoria
authors: V
authors: Tittle
authors: Lauren
authors: L
authors: Bull
authors: Fiona
authors: F
authors: Boag
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016358:Contact Tracing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008485:Medical Audit; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008853:Microscopy; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014247:Trichomonas Vaginitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D008795:Metronidazole
keywords: Europe; Trichomonas vaginalis; epidemiology treatment; protozoal disease; sexually transmitted infection; trichomoniasis