For some cases of bacterial vaginosis, treatment should include a pack, doctors now say.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) updated its clinical guideline Friday to fit with recent data indicating that treatment for recurrent bacterial vaginosis (BV) in women is significantly more effective Yeah Their male partners are also treated at the same time, with an oral antibiotic and an antibiotic cream directly on the potentially offending member.
“Couples therapy offers us another avenue to hopefully prevent recurrence and help people feel better faster,” Christopher Zahn, ACOG’s chief of clinical practice and health equity and quality, said in a statement.
BV is a common condition that affects nearly 30 percent of women worldwide. Still, it is potentially stigmatizing and embarrassing, with symptoms including itching, burning, a worrying fishy odor, and vaginal discharge that may be green or gray. With symptoms like this, BV is often described as an infection, but it really isn’t. BV is an imbalance in the normal bacterial communities that inhabit the vagina, a condition called dysbiosis.
This imbalance can be especially difficult to correct; Of women who suffer from BV, up to 66 percent will end up having the condition reoccur after treatment.
BV symptoms are “incredibly uncomfortable and disruptive to people’s daily lives,” Zahn said, and that discomfort “is compounded by frustration when this condition returns repeatedly.”
Strong recommendation
Studies in recent years have begun to expose the reasons behind the recurrence. Although BV is again an imbalance, it has the profile of a sexually transmitted infection, with links to new sexual partners and similar incubation periods. Going further, penile microbial communities may silently harbor BV-related bacterial species, and penile microbial communities may predict BV risk in partners.
