Occurrence of Trichomonads in the Respiratory Tract. Report of Three Cases

Judging from the few reports available in the literature, the finding of trichomonads in the respiratory tract of man is an extremely rare occurrence. However, three cases observed as incidental findings in patients with chest disease were encountered in one hospital in a 6-month period. The organisms were first observed alive in bronchial washings and later in Papanicolaou smears of sputum. No details regarding identification of the parasite or of its relationship to the associated disease conditions were elucidated, but the cases are reported to stimulate interest, with the belief that further search will prove pulmonary trichomonads to be much commoner than present knowledge indicates them to be. The literature concerning trichomonads affecting man is voluminous, but is concerned almost entirely with forms found in the intestinal, urinary, and vaginal tracts. Invasion of the respiratory tract by flagellate protozoans is a phenomenon seldom recorded and an infection that is little known by either parasitologists or clinicians in the United States. In the winter of 1959-1960 at Fitzsimons General Hospital, the occurrence of trichomonads in the respiratory tree of three patients was noted.