MNT:A Viral Symbiont Of A Protozoan Parasite Increases Virulence To The Human Host

When humans have parasites, the organisms live in our bodies, co-opt our resources and cause disease. However, it turns out that parasites themselves can have their own co-habitants. 

Researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital and SUNY Upstate Medical University have found that the pathogenicity of the sexually transmitted protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis - the cause of trichomoniasis - is fueled by a viral invader. Trichomoniasis infections are more common than all bacterial STDs combined. 

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