New STI Emerges, Impacting One in Three Women Globally——Ascientific discovery about sexual health has reshaped conceptions about a common infection.
Researchers have determined that bacterial vaginosis (BV)—a condition affecting nearly one-third of women worldwide—is a sexually transmitted infection (STI), shifting the way it should be treated.
The team found that treating male partners alongside female patients significantly reduces the recurrence of BV, which is commonly associated with infertility, premature births and newborn deaths.
Researchers at Monash University and Alfred Health in Australia said in a statement that their findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, are pivotal to reducing the recurrence rates of BV in women.
BV recurrence cut in half with partner treatment
Current medical guidelines treat BV as an imbalance in the vaginal microbiome rather than an STI.
As a result, women receiving the standard antibiotic treatment often experience a high recurrence rate—more than 50 per cent of women have it again within three months after the round of antibiotics, according to professor Catriona Bradshaw and Dr. Lenka Vodstrcil, two of the study’s lead authors.
The clinical trial conducted by researchers involved 164 couples in monogamous relationships, where the female partner had BV. The study split participants into two groups: one where both partners received treatment and another where only the woman was treated. The results were so significant that researchers stopped the trial early.
BV recurrence was cut in half in the partner treatment group, compared to the group treating only women.
Reinfection from male partners
Despite longstanding suspicions that BV is sexually transmitted, previous studies had failed to prove a link.
This is because scientists still don’t know exactly which bacteria are responsible for the condition.
Last Updated on March 31, 2025 by Senel Media
