Vaccine Strategy For Trichomonas?

Research conducted at the University of Ottawa in Canada has resulted in a vaccine strategy which holds promise for the treatment of trichomoniasis, the most common sexually-transmitted disease worldwide. Although not intrinsically serious, the disease can increase HIV transmission in women, and is also associated with an increased incidence of pregnancy loss. The strategy, tested in a mouse model, involves the subcutaneous administration of Trichomonas vaginalis, the causative protozoan, in two doses given a month apart. Vaccination prevented or hastened the eradication of subsequent vaginal challenge with T vaginalis.

- Meantime, another study has suggested that the combination of estrogen and progesterone in the low-dose contraceptive pill can help prevent trichomoniasis. It appears that the presence of estrogen receptors on the organism plays an important role in preventing T vaginalis infection in women on combination oral contraceptives, according to researchers from the University of Minnesota, USA.