The Frequency of Trichomonas vaginalis Infection in Married Women in Al-Khums City, Libya

Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasitic protozoan that infects the urogenital tract of individuals globally, affecting both women and men. There are various methods to detect T. vaginalis, including clinical diagnosis and laboratory examination. "The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of T. vaginalis among married women in Al-Khums, Libya. The comparison between four different diagnostic methods to detect T. vaginalis, vaginal swab samples from women who visited Souq Al-Kamlesh Hospital during the period from February 2022 to July 2022 from different regions of the city (Al-Khums, Lebdah, Seline, Souq AlKhamees, Kaam and Caucasus) and collected 350 samples and analyzed them. The highest infection rate is recorded at pH < 7 in 68.75% of cases. The Whiff test resulted in 13 positive samples (3.71%), the culture medium method Cystine-Peptone-Liver infusion- Maltose (CPLM) recorded 16 positive samples (4.57%), and the Giemsa dye staining method recorded 16 positive samples (4.57%). The age groups were more affected by women aged 45 years (28.5%), followed by the age groups between 35 and 45 years at a rate of 4.59%. The lowest infection rate was in the 15-25 (1.90%) age group, with significant differences (P ? 0.05). Furthermore, the most common injuries among women were from Al-Khums region (7.76%), followed by Souq Al-Khamees region (3.94%) and finally Kaam region (2.94%). Cases of miscarriage (10.15%) are found more frequently in this study. The culture and staining methods were used to detect the highest infection rate of Trichomonas vaginal and achieve better results than other methods.