Seven-Day Metronidazole Better for Trichomoniasis Tx in Women

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 17, 2018 (HealthDay News) — A seven-day dose of metronidazole is associated with a reduced likelihood of being Trichomonas vaginalis-positive at test-of-cure compared with single-dose treatment, according to a study published online Oct. 5 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Patricia Kissinger, Ph.D., from Tulane University in New Orleans, and colleagues conducted an open-label, randomized controlled trial involving HIV-uninfected, non-pregnant women positive for T. vaginalis infection. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a single dose of 2 g metronidazole (311 women) or 500 mg metronidazole twice daily for seven days (312 women).

Planned enrollment in the study was 1,664 women, but due to funding limitations, the study was stopped early. The researchers found that compared with women in the single-dose group, those in the seven-day-dose group were less likely to be T. vaginalis positive at test of cure four weeks after completion of treatment (11 versus 19 percent; relative risk, 0.55). There was no significant effect for bacterial vaginosis status on relative risk. Self-reported adherence was 96 and 99 percent in the seven-day-dose and single-dose groups, respectively. Similar side effects were seen in each group, with the most common side effects being nausea, headache, and vomiting.

“We can no longer do something because it’s what we’ve always done. I hope that this study will help to change the recommendations so that women can get the proper treatment for this common curable sexually transmitted disease,” Kissinger said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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