Bacterial vaginosis overview

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

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Overview

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common cause of vaginal infection (vaginitis). For grammatical reasons, some people prefer to call it vaginal bacteriosis. It is not generally considered to be a sexually transmitted infection (see causes below). BV is caused by an imbalance of naturally occurring bacterial flora, and should not be confused with yeast infection (candidiasis), or infection with Trichomonas vaginalis (trichomoniasis) which are not caused by bacteria.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common of three vaginal infections that fall under the category known as vaginitis. The other two infections are trichomoniasis, a sexually transmitted disease, and the fungal infection commonly known as a yeast infection.

BV is poorly understood and is often misdiagnosed. Untreated BV can lead to premature delivery, postpartum infections, clinically apparent and subclinical pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), post-surgical complications (after abortion, hysterectomy, cesarean section and other reproductive procedures), increased vulnerability to HIV infection and, possibly, infertility.

The condition is also known as BV, non-specific vaginitis and Gardnerella vaginalis vaginitis.