Trichomonas

  • Trichomonas is an STI that is less common in the Netherlands. At ZIZ we find trichomonas in around one in sixty people who test for it. 

    It is found more often in people with darker skin and in relatively older people. If you are not in these groups, your chance of trichomonas is even lower.

    You get it by having sex without a condom. Trichomonas causes symptoms more often in women than in men. These often involve pain in the vagina or an unpleasant-smelling discharge. The fluid from your vagina may also be greenish or grey.

    If you are a man and you have symptoms of trichomonas, these are often pain when urinating or discharge from the penis.

    At ZIZ we are cautious about testing for trichomonas (in line with the GP guideline), but it is possible.

    If your test does turn out to be positive, trichomonas is easy to treat with a single dose of antibiotics.

  • Trichomonas is an STI caused by Trichomonas vaginalis, a protozoan (a single-celled parasitic organism). 

  • You can get trichomonas through sex without a condom (penis–vagina). Using a condom is very effective at preventing trichomonas.

  • Trichomonas is common in some parts of the world, but not in the Netherlands. 

    If we tested everyone we test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea for trichomonas as well, the chance would be around one in three hundred in men and one in a hundred in women. 

    At ZIZ we only test women with vaginal symptoms, in line with the guideline, but even then the chance of trichomonas is low, at one in sixty. 

    People with darker skin and people who are relatively older have a higher chance to begin with than people under 25 with white skin.

  • A strong-smelling green or greyish discharge with small bubbles is the classic symptom of trichomonas. However, it can also cause less obvious symptoms such as itching or pain when urinating. 

    More than half of women notice no symptoms at all with a trichomonas infection.

  • Men may notice fluid from the penis and pain or a burning sensation when urinating. However, more than three in four men have no symptoms of trichomonas at all. 

  • In men, we test for trichomonas in the urine. It is important that we collect the first part of the urine stream and that, ideally, you have not urinated for 1 hour beforehand. Women take a swab from the vagina themselves. We then test for the presence of trichomonas using a PCR test. What is unique about ZIZ is that we use one of the fastest PCR tests available. This means that for trichomonas too we have a result in 90 minutes.

  • If you have no symptoms, we advise waiting at least two to four weeks so that the test is reliable. If you do have symptoms, you can test sooner. Testing immediately after a risk is not useful, because you are still within the incubation period.

  • At ZIZ we treat trichomonas with a single two-gram dose of metronidazole (four 500 mg tablets). Treatment at ZIZ is always free. 

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