A recent study, presented at the International Society for STD Research meeting in Canada, reveals that Trichomonas Vaginalis is much more common than was once thought and the age group most affected are those over the age of 45.
The researchers state that a Trichomonas screen should be routine practice for sexually active women of every age and that that cases should be reported to the public health authorities in the same way as gonorrhoea and chlamydia.
Samples were collected from 7,593 women in the United States and were gathered from women aged between 18 and 89. The results proved alarming with 13% of women in their fifties infected, 11.3% in their forties, 7.9% in their 30s and 8.3% in their twenties.
Everyone is susceptible to this parasite and both men and women can contract it. The vagina becomes infected in women and in men the urine canal is commonly infected. Trichomonas is easily treated with antibiotics such as metronidazole.
Up to 50% of women will not experience any symptoms so it is important to get tested regularly if sexually active. The same is likely to apply for men but there is no data yet to prove this. No large scale study of this kind has been carried out on men in relation to Trichomonas to date. Trichomonas has been associated with premature births and low birth weight babies.