Incidence of Trichomonas vaginalis Infection Among Female Smokers: A Narrative Review

Background: The harmful effects of smoking on women’s bodies have been proven. One of these effects is an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, including Trichomonas vaginalis infection. Smoking is one of the main risk factors for infections in the respiratory, digestive, and reproductive systems in humans. Mechanisms of susceptibility to infection in smokers may involve changes in the host’s structural, functional, and immunological defenses. T. vaginalis infection is one of the non-viral sexually transmitted diseases and the most common curable sexually transmitted infection in the world, which can increase the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease and HIV transmission. This infection is still relatively common, especially in women who smoke and in groups with lower socioeconomic status. We aimed to present a compressive review of the probability of being infected with T. vaginalis in smokers compared to non-smokers.Materials and Methods: PubMed and Google databases were searched for research articles related to smoking and its association with T. vaginalis infection.Results: The smoking status of the person is an independent risk factor for T. vaginalis infection and leads to an increased likelihood of developing this infection.Conclusion: Finally, the results of various studies showed that the prevalence of T. vaginalis infection is higher in smokers than in non-smokers.