Author(s)

Camila Marconi¹, Marli Teresinha Cassamassimo Duarte², Márcia Guimarães da Silva^3*, Larissa Doddi Marcolino³, Jossimara Polettini⁴, Ana Paula Gonçalves⁵, Adriano Dias⁶, Marilza Vieira Cunha Rudge⁷

¹Basic Pathology Department, UFPR—Universidade Federal do Paraná, Parana, Brazil.
²UNOESTE, The University of Western Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
³Department of Pathology, Botucatu Medical School, UNESP—Universidade Estadual Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
⁴Department of Nursing, Botucatu Medical School, UNESP—Universidade Estadual Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
⁵Department of Nursing, Institute of Health Sciences, UFPA—Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil.
⁶Department of Public Health, Botucatu Medical School, UNESP—Universidade Estadual Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
⁷Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Botucatu Medical School, UNESP—Universidade Estadual Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Background: Adolescents are disproportionally affected by sexually transmitted infections (STI). Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) are the most frequent curable STI in adolescents, causing serious consequences for their reproductive health. Therefore, we aimed to determine the prevalence and incidence of CT and TV, as well as their risk factors in pregnant adolescents from Belém, northern Brazilian Amazon. Methods: This prospective study enrolled 199 adolescents up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. They were scheduled for follow-up visit between 28 and 29 weeks of pregnancy. Sociodemographic and behavioral data were obtained by interview. Cervicovaginal samples were taken to test for TV, CT, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and bacterial vaginosis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to test the association of prevalent/incident CT and TV with the variables. Results: Prevalence of cervical CT infection was 33.7% (n = 67/ 199), and for trichomoniasis it was 4.0% (n = 8/199). Cervical ectopy increased the risk for prevalent CT (OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.01 - 3.70), while having treated vaginal discharge in the past (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.26 - 0.98) and being married (OR, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.01 - 0.83) were protective against current CT and TV, respectively. Among the 95 (47.7%) adolescents who completed follow-up, 15 cases of incident CT were identified. Incident CT was associated with having a formal or informal job (OR, 28.4; 95% CI, 2.1 - 391.6) and bacterial vaginosis treatment at the baseline (OR, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.01 - 0.69). Conclusion: Prevalence and incidence rates of TV and CT are high in this population devoid of STI routine screening. Treatment of bacterial vaginosis may benefit this population by reducing risk for CT acquisition.

Adolescence, Pregnancy, Sexually Transmitted Infection, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis

Marconi, C. , Duarte, M. , Silva, M. , Marcolino, L. , Polettini, J. , Gonçalves, A. , Dias, A. and Rudge, M. (2015) Trichomonas vaginalis and Chlamydia trachomatis Prevalence, Incidence and Associated Factors in Pregnant Adolescents from Belém City, in the Brazilian Amazon. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5, 677-687. doi: 10.4236/ojog.2015.512096.