Characterisation of Isolates Collected from Patients in Vienna between 2019 and 2021.

(TV) is the causative agent of trichomoniasis, the most common nonviral sexually transmitted disease. TV can carry symbionts such as virus (TVV) or . Four distinct strains of TV are known: TVV1, TVV2, TVV3, and TVV4. The aim of the current study was to characterise TV isolates from Austrian patients for the presence of symbionts, and to determine their effect on metronidazole susceptibility and cytotoxicity against HeLa cells. We collected 82 TV isolates and detected presence of TVV (TVV1, TVV2, or TVV3) in 29 of them (35%); no TVV4 was detected. was detected in vaginal/urethral swabs by culture in 37% of the TV-positive patients; DNA was found in 28% of the TV isolates by PCR. In 15% of the patients, was detected in the clinical samples as well as within the respective TV isolates. In 22% of the patients, was detected by culture only. In 11 patients, was detected only within the respective cultured TV isolates (13%), while the swab samples were negative for . Our results provide a first insight into the distribution of symbionts in TV isolates from Austrian patients. We did not observe significant effects of the symbionts on metronidazole susceptibility, cytotoxicity, or severity of symptoms.