Nearly three-quarters of the male sexual partners of women with a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) called trichomoniasis carry the infection themselves, but do not have symptoms. Trichomonas infection, a parasitic infection caused by Trichomonas vaginalis, has been linked to pelvic inflammatory disease, precancerous cervical changes, and premature delivery in women, and may also facilitate the spread of HIV. However, lab tests commonly used to detect the infection can only typically identify people carrying large amounts of the organism. Therefore, some infections - especially those that don't cause symptoms - may be missed. Researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA, used a sensitive test to identify the DNA of the organism in sexual partners of infected women. They tested 3,836 women for trichomoniasis at three STD clinics, and found 790, or 20.6 percent, carried the infection. They enrolled 540 infected women and 261 of their partners, and found 72 percent of these men were also infected. However, 77 percent of the men had no symptoms. The researchers emphasise that more resources must be directed toward eradicating the disease. They warn that without specifically targeted funding, infection with T. vaginalis will continue to be a 'silent' sexually transmitted infection, placing millions of women at increased risk of health complications and HIV infection. The above findings underscore the importance of including men in efforts to control the spread of trichomoniasis.
Clinical Infectious Diseases,
January 2007