Bacterial vaginosis is an infection that It affects about a third of women around the world: causes infertility, premature parts and neonatal deaths. So far it has been treated as a disorder due to the imbalance of the vaginal microbioma, but now a study published on New England Journal of Medicine A new hypothesis that would revolutionize the way in which it is treated: the bacterial vaginosis, the authors claim, would be a sexually transmitted infection, and for this reason it would be necessary to take care of not only the woman, but also her partner.
Only the woman is not enough. The treatment normally indicated in the event of bacterial vaginosis is the intake for a week of antibiotics orally: the infection goes away, but In over 50% of cases it returns within three months. How come? According to what discovered by the new study, the cause would be the partner who, not cared for, would retort the bacterium to the woman. “Intervening is cheap and fast, and can help prevent not only bacterial vaginosis, but also the most serious complications associated with it,” explains Catriona Bradshaw, one of the authors.
The tests. To reach their conclusions, the researchers involved 164 Monogamous heterosexual couples in which women were affected by bacterial vaginosis. Some of the couples (of the control group) have been treated in a “standard” way, administering only oral antibiotics to the woman; In the other couples, both partners took oral antibiotics and, in addition, they applied an antibiotic cream for a week. The experimental cure was so effective that the trial was suspended in advance, when it was clear that the reappearance of the bacterial vaginosis was halved with respect to the control group.
«Our study shows that Women are reinfected by the partnerand this proves that bacterial vaginosis is actually a sexually transmitted infection, “concludes Bradshaw.
The guidelines of health institutions around the world will not be changed from one day to the next, but the authors are convinced that making available online what has been discovered can help spread the right information and do Know the correct care to be prescribed.
