Inoculation of the Oral Trichomonad (T. Tenax) Into the Human Vagina
Robert M. Stabler AND
Louis G. Feo
Department of Zoölogy, University of Pennsylvania, and the Department of Obstetrics, Jefferson Medical College Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.
1. Fifty postnatal volunteers (25 with and 25 without T. vaginalis)were each given 3 intravaginal inoculations of concentratesfrom 4872 hour cultures of T. tenax (buccalis).
2.Whereas no permanent infections were established, T. tenaxsurvivedfor periods of 48 (5), 72 (1), 168 (1) and 432 (1)hours respectively.The 7 and 18 day survivals probably involvedsome multiplication.
3. Three brief attempts at intravaginal establishment of T.tenax by inoculating directly from mouth to vagina were unsuccessful.
4. The complete inability of T. hominis and T. tenax to establishlasting intravaginal infections, and the far greater capacityfor intravaginal survival exhibited by T. tenax over that shownby T. hominis, again lead us to state that the mouth, intestineand genital tracts of man are infected with 3 separate and distinctspecies of Trichomonas.