Penis vs Bacterial Vaginosis

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common vaginal infection that is often recurring time and again, despite treatment, which is a cause of frustration to both the woman and her clinician.

A recent article, The Microbiome Composition of a Man’s Penis Predicts Incident Bacterial Vaginosis in His Female Sex Partner With High Accuracy may open a much-needed door to better diagnosis and intervention.

To quote their conclusion: “Baseline penile microbiota accurately predicted BV incidence in women who did not have BV at baseline, with more than half of incident infections observed at 6- to 12- months after penile microbiome assessment. These results suggest interventions to manipulate the penile microbiome may reduce BV incidence in sex partners, and that potential treatment (antibiotic or live biotherapeutic) will need to be effective in reducing or altering bacteria at both the glans/coronal sulcus and urethral sites (as represented by the meatus). The temporal association clarifies that concordance of penile microbiome with the vaginal microbiome of sex partners is not merely reflecting the vaginal microbiome, but can contribute to it.”

If you are one of those who suffers of recurrent BV, try using a condom for now, until further treatment is available.