Improved diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis infection by PCR using vaginal swabs and urine specimens compared to diagnosis by wet mount microscopy, culture, and fluorescent staining
Four vaginal cotton swab specimens were obtained from each of 804 women
visiting the outpatient sexually transmitted disease clinic of the Erasmus
University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, for
validation of various forms of Trichomonas vaginalis diagnostic
procedures. One swab specimen was immediately examined by wet mount
microscopy, a second swab was placed in Kupferberg's Trichosel medium for
cultivation, and two swabs were placed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS),
pH 7.2. The resulting PBS suspension was used for direct staining with
acridine orange and fluorescence microscopy, inoculation of modified
Diamond's culture medium, and a PCR specific for T. vaginalis. A total of
70 samples positive in one or more of the tests were identified: 31 (3.8%)
infections were detected by wet mount microscopy, and 36 (4.4%) were