International Journal of Biotechnology and Microbiology 21 International Journal of Biotechnology and Microbiology Onlien ISSN: 2664-7680; Print ISSN: 2664-7672 Received: 05-11-2018; Accepted: 07-12-2018 www.biotechnologyjournals.com Volume 1; Issue 1; January 2019; Page No. 21-25 Prevalence and correlates of Trichomonas vaginalis infection in women attending antenatal clinic in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria Ocheme Julius Okojokwu 1 *, Bashiru Shafa Abubakar 2 , Nanlop Ladul Mwankat 3 , Ibrahim Abubakar Yusuf 4 , Entonu Elijah Entonu 5 , Innocent A Onaji 6 , Francis Ofuowoicho Ukah 7 1, 3, 5, 7 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria 2 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria 4 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 6 Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria Abstract Background: Trichomonas vaginalis is the most common, treatable or curable non-viral sexually transmitted infection (STI) with an annual incidence of more than 170 million cases worldwide. Objectives: The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis infection and the associated risk factors associated among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Plateau State Specialist Hospital Jos. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with a total of 300pregnant women who consented to participate in the study. Urine samples were collected from the consenting pregnant women and analysed microscopically. Information on sociodemographic and risk factors were collected via structured questionnaire and analysed statistically. Results: Prevalence of T. vaginalis infection was found to be 22.0% in this study. The studied population had a mean age of 28.49 years with the infection most prevalent among women in the 3 rd trimester of their pregnancy (24.1%). Women who admitted to having had stillbirths/miscarriages had the highest prevalence of the infection (33.3%). Trichomonas vaginalis was found (32.1%) among women with vaginal discharge. Conclusion: Trichomonas vaginalis infection is prevalent in Jos with 22.0% prevalence among women attending antenatal clinic in plateau State Specialist Hospital. Enlightenment on good personal hygiene as well as education on safe sexual practices are recommended. Keywords: Trichomonas vaginalis, pregnant women, pregnancy, jos 1. Introduction Trichomonas vaginalis is an anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasite that infects the human urogenital tract and the causative agent of trichomoniasis (Mahmoud et al., 2015) [15] . It is the most common, treatable or curable non-viral sexually transmitted infection (STI) with an annual incidence of more than 170 million cases worldwide (Muzny et al., 2013, Okojokwu et al., 2015) [19, 20] . According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) an estimated 276.4 million new cases of trichomoniasis occurred globally in 2008 making it more prevalent than gonorrhea and Chlamydia, however, this is predominantly in developing countries (WHO, 2012) [27] . Humans are the only known host, with the trophozoite transmitted via direct, skin-to-skin contact with an infected individual, primarily through vaginal sexual intercourse (Wilkerson, 2011, Mosab, 2018) [11, 18] . Transmission via formites is rarely established. The infection is more common in women than in men and older women are more likely to be infected than younger women (Johnson and Mabey, 2008) [10] . Trichomoniasis is often asymptomatic in men, however more than half of the infected women manifests symptoms such as; vaginal discharge (which can be white, gray, yellow, or green, and usually frothy with an unpleasant smell), vaginal spotting or bleeding, genital burning or itching, genital redness or swelling, frequent urge to urinate and pain during urination or sexual intercourse. Adverse effects of this infection are significant during pregnancy leading to pre-labour rupture of membranes, preterm delivery, and low birth weight. Infections can also occur after abortion and caesarean delivery (pneumonia and conjunctivitis). In addition, infants with Trichomonas vaginalis cultured from nasopharyngeal secretions have been reported to present with significant respiratory distress (David et al., 2003) [4] . Trichomonas vaginalis infection has been associated with an increased risk of transmission of other STIs, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Buvé et al., 2001, McClelland et al., 2007; Kissinger and Adamski, 2013) [17, 13] . Higher prevalence is observed among persons with multiple sexual partners, poor sexual activity hygiene, poor personal hygiene, low socio-economic status and presence of other venereal diseases (Iwueze et al., 2014).This high prevalence has been reported in many states of Nigeria including Lagos (Adeoye and Akande, 2007) [2] , Plateau (Okojokwu et al., 2015) [20] , Maiduguri (Mairiga et al., 2011) [16] , Anambra