Treating Bacterial Vaginosis as an STI Could Improve Outcomes

将细菌性阴道炎视为性传播感染可能改善治疗效果。

Science Quickly

科学

2025-04-09

19 分钟
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Bacterial vaginosis (BV), an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in the vagina, affects nearly one in three people with a vagina. While you can get BV without ever having sex, a new study has found that, in some cases, it could be functioning more like a sexually transmitted infection. That’s in part because of the increased risk of BV after sex with a new partner and a high recurrence of BV symptoms after treatment.The study examined women with BV who were in a monogamous relationship with a male partner and found that treating both people was significantly more effective than treating the woman alone. Host Rachel Feltman speaks with study co-authors Lenka Vodstrcil, a senior research fellow at Melbourne Sexual Health Center at Monash University in Australia, and Catriona Bradshaw, a professor of sexual health medicine at Monash University and Australia’s Alfred Hospital. Recommended reading: Read the study Resources for patients and health professionals  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • Hi, I'm Clara Moskowitz, Senior Editor for Space and Physics at Scientific American.

  • Like many kids, I once dreamed of becoming an astronaut.

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  • For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.

  • Research suggests

  • that anywhere from roughly a quarter to more than a third of people with a vagina will contract bacterial vaginosis,

  • or BV, at least once in their lifetimes.

  • It involves an imbalance in the microbes that grow in the vagina,

  • with pathogenic streams beating out healthier bacteria.

  • It's not usually a serious condition,

  • but it can put people at higher risk for contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

  • Now, some researchers are arguing that BV itself should be treated like an STI.