Antibiotic use by men may help lower the incidence of bacterial vaginosis in women

Women with bacterial vaginosis, a recurrent condition that increases the risk of pregnancy complications, can benefit from male sexual partners being treated with antibiotics, according to a trial that found that their risk of symptoms returning was nearly half.

“Treating male partners has led to the most important invasions to improve the rate of recurrence in women that we have seen for decades,” he says. Catriona Bradshaw He led the work at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) affects Approximately one-quarter of women of reproductive age all over the world. It occurs when “harmful” bacteria grow in excess in the vagina and cause vaginal discharge. Turn the greyish white and smell the fishthere are potentially serious complications. “It increases the risk for women to acquire a wide range of sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV, and complications during pregnancy, such as preterm birth and miscarriage,” says Bradshaw.

Doctors usually treat the condition with antibiotics in the form of creams that can be applied inside the vagina, but symptoms often recur because having a sex appears to reintroduce the problematic bacteria, Bradshaw says. “One in two people will regain their BV within three to six months of the recommended treatment regimen,” Bradshaw said.

To address this, Bradshaw and her colleagues recruited 137 monogamous women in Australia with bacterial vaginosis along with their male partners. All women took standard antibiotics for a week, but about half of their partners were given oral antibiotics and were told to apply antibiotic cream to their penis during the same period. The remaining men were not treated. None of the participants were transgender.

Three months later, 63% of women whose partners were not treated had recurrence symptoms, while only 35% of women who received antibiotics experienced a recurrence. “This definitely has a significant effect of becoming a valuable intervention for this group of women,” he says. Janneke van de Wijgert At Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

“I've seen a lot of women who have issues with BV ongoing. I'll definitely apply this new information to my clinical practice.” Christina Muzny University of Alabama at the University of Birmingham.

The team did not track all participants over the long term, but they regained contact after years and said they had no symptoms. “Last week I spoke to someone who had been exempt from BV for two years since they joined. These women had been recurring very much before the trial.” Lenka Vodstrcil At Monash University.

However, this approach does not work for women with casual sexual partners. There, it may be difficult to get people to adhere to taking antibiotics, says Van de Wijgert. Even in monogamous relationships, she says, men may not always be willing to take antibiotics. “We've seen this with condom use. This also reduces BV recurrence. It can be really difficult for women to have their male partners use condoms.”