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1. Trichomoniasis is the most common curable sexually transmitted disease in the United States. Each year, about 7.4 million cases are diagnosed.

2. Trichomoniasis is more common among African American women. The reason for this is not clear. Lack of access to medical care in economically challenged communities may play a role.

3. Trichomoniasis increases a woman's risk of delivering prematurely or delivering a baby with low birth weight. Research has shown that pregnant women with untreated trichomoniasis are 40 percent more likely to deliver a baby with low birth weight than those without the infection.

4. It is important that sexual partners of infected women be treated. Although trichomoniasis is often asymptomatic in males, if left untreated it can cause urethral infections, particularly nongonococcal urethritis, and can reinfect the woman.

5. Because a test for vaginal infection is not part of a normal annual exam, you can't assume your health care professional will test you for trichomoniasis. You'll need to ask for it specifically, if you have symptoms, or if you have been in contact with a high-risk sexual partner.

6. You can have more than one type of vaginitis at the same time. It is possible to have trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis together, each of which can be treated with metronidazole.

7. If you visit your health care professional to see if you have a vaginal infection, you should schedule your examination when you are not having your period.

8. It is easy to misdiagnose trichomoniasis or bacterial vaginosis as a yeast infection because yeast infection also causes an unpleasant discharge. Yeast infections are caused by fungus normally present in the vagina, but occasionally may reproduce excessively and cause discomfort. Treatment for yeast infections is different than for trichomoniasis or BV, so an accurate diagnosis is important.