Original research article Trichomonas vaginalis infection in Nigerian pregnant women and risk factors associated with sexually transmitted infections Oyetunde T Oyeyemi 1 , Olamide Fadipe 1 and Ifeoluwa T Oyeyemi 2 Abstract Trichomoniasis poses a public health threat to pregnant women and neonatal health. This study evaluated Trichomonas vaginalis and other common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) status in pregnant women, and risk factors associated with them. The study was cross-sectional and descriptive and a total of 198 pregnant women were recruited for T. vaginalis screening by microscopic examination. Questionnaires were also administered to 108 pregnant women to access information related to socio-demography and other factors associated with STI transmission. The overall preva- lence of T. vaginalis was 18.7%. While prevalence of T. vaginalis was neither age nor parity dependent (p > 0.05), women in their first trimester showed significantly higher prevalence of trichomoniasis compared to women in their second and third trimesters (p < 0.05). The frequency of STIs was lowest (18.2%) and highest (71.4%) in age groups  39 and 15–20 years, respectively. Low levels of education, multiple sexual partners, lack of knowledge on partners’ STI history, and having sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs were risk factors of for STIs (p < 0.05). We found a high prevalence of T. vaginalis in pregnant women, with those at an early gestational age at greater risk. The improved education of women on safe sex and the need to know partners’ STI status are advocated. Keywords Maternal trichomoniasis, sexually transmitted infection, women, Trichomonas vaginalis, pregnancy, Africa, transmission risk factors Date received: 24 June 2015; accepted: 21 September 2015 Introduction Over 25 infectious agents are transmitted primarily through sex; however, hepatitis B virus, Trichomonas vaginalis, herpes simplex, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Neisseria gonorrhoeae, chlamydia and Treponema pallidum infections are more common. 1,2 In the last decade, approximately 340 million new cases of gonorrhoea, chlamydial infection, syphilis, and T. vaginalis infection occurred annually, with the majority of them in developing countries. 2 Across the world, 2.5, 3.0, 5.6, 6.7, and 11% prevalence of syphilis, gonorrhoea, HIV, herpes, and chlamydia, respectively, have been reported in pregnant women. 3–6 T. vaginalis infection is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 7 The disease spectrum ranges from an estimated 10–50% asymptom- atic carriers to individuals with profound acute, inflammatory disease. 8,9 Symptoms of T. vaginalis infection in women include frothy/greenish/foul smel- ling vaginal discharge, dysuria, vulvo-vaginal irritation, and lower abdominal pain, which is more pronounced during pregnancy and menstruation. 10 In pregnancy, T. vaginalis has been implicated in adverse birth outcomes such as low birth weight, pre- term labour, neonatal morbidity and mortality. 11 Others include upper reproductive tract post-caesarian 1 Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria 2 Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Corresponding author: Oyetunde T Oyeyemi, Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. Email: zootund@yahoo.com International Journal of STD & AIDS 2016, Vol. 27(13) 1187–1193 ! The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0956462415611292 std.sagepub.com by guest on October 28, 2016 std.sagepub.com Downloaded from