Trichomonas vaginalis infection among married women of Andaman and Nicobar islands

BackgroundTrichomoniasis is a common sexually transmitted infection among both men and women, worldwide. The prevalence of trichomoniasis among married women in the remote Indian population is more important, yet they rarely sought treatment. This was the first-ever study conducted on the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.MethodsA cross-sectional study was undertaken among married women in the Andaman Islands, India from August 2020 to July 2022. Samples were collected from the suspected women attending community health centres after obtaining informed consent. PCR assay for TV was performed using specific primers and conditions. Further, sequencing was carried out and pair-wise genetic analysis was done using MEGA version 11 to find the TV strain.ResultsOverall, 0.9% (nine out of 1000) TV cases were reported. The majority of infected population was below high school degrees (5/9) and was unemployed (7/9). Infected individuals never had a history of a sexually transmitted illness. Two of the ladies reported dyspareunia, and one of them had persistent pelvic pain. Of these, most of them had pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and abnormal vaginal discharge. The pair-wise genetic distance analysis found the strain found on this island was TV G3.ConclusionsFrom our knowledge, this surveillance study was conducted first time in the Andaman and Nicobar Island. The detection of the TV G3 strain may be essential for understanding the prevalence of TV infection and their associated risk factors. More research is needed to understand the TV-associated risk factors among suspected patients in hospital settings.