Does trichomoniasis come back after treatment?

Trichomoniasis is treated quickly and easily with a short course of antibiotics. In most cases, if antibiotics are taken correctly, and in full, the infection will be cleared completely.

Do not have sex whilst you are on treatment and have waited 7 days since you started treatment. If you have sex, this increases the chance of reinfection.

If you are diagnosed with trichomoniasis, it is important that any current and recent sexual partners are also tested and treated. If they are not, this increases the risk of reinfection. If your partners take a test, ensure they are testing accurately. Infections take 2 weeks to show up on tests after sexual contact.

If any sexual partners are treated, ensure you do not have sex with them until they have successfully completed their treatment and waited 7 days.

In a very small amount of cases the antibiotics prescribed do not clear the infection and your clinician will need to prescribe you different antibiotics. This is why it's important to do a test after you've completed treatment to check the infection has cleared (test of cures are usually done 4 weeks after completing treatment). If you keep testing positive for the infection, your doctor will ensure you are treated correctly until the infection has cleared.