Bacterial vaginosis

 ICD9        = 616.1|

}} Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common cause of vaginal infection (vaginitis).

Symptoms and signs

The commonest symptom of BV is an abnormal vaginal dischargewith an unpleasant fishy smell. However, half of all womenwith BV don't notice any symptoms.

Clue cellscan also be used in diagnosis.

Causes

A healthy vagina normally contains many microorganisms, one of the common ones being Lactobacillus acidophilus. Lactobacillus appears to help prevent other vaginal microorganisms from multiplying to a level where they cause symptoms. The microorganisms involved in BV include Gardnerella vaginalis, Mobiluncus, Bacteroides, and Mycoplasma. For reasons not well understood, the numbers of these organisms increase with BV while the number of lactobacillus organisms decreases.

Most cases of bacterial vaginosis occur in sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 44, especially after contact with a new partner. Condomsdo not appear to provide protection, but use of spermicidesincreases BV risk somewhat. Although BV appears to be associated with and triggered by sexual intercourse, it does not appear to be transmitted from one partner to another. Rather, it is a disordering of the chemical and biological balance of the normal flora. Pregnantwomen and women with a sexually transmitted diseaseare especially at risk for getting this infection. Bacterial vaginosis does not usually affect women after menopause.

Treatment

Bacterial vaginosis can be cured by antibiotics.

See also

• Vulvovaginal disorders
• Sexually transmitted diseases

External links

• Vaginitis/Vaginal infection fact sheet from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectionssr:????????

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterial+vaginosis Wikipedia article Bacterial vaginosis.