Addendum: BV is not just a sexually transmitted infection
Although I think that the last blog ( https://gmodestmedblogs.blogspot.com/2025/03/bacterial-vaginosis-sexually.html ) made a strong argument that bacterial vaginosis (BV) can be a sexually transmitted infection, with fewer recurrences in women by the use of antibiotics in their male partners, I do think that BV is considerably more complex than that. This was brought up to me by Rebecca Perkins, a gynecologist with a well-recognized expertise in HPV infection and a strong promoter for HPV vaccination. She wrote to me in response to this prior blog, “I don’t think we can quite characterize BV as an STI— I have many patients aged 80-100 who have not had sex in decades and have BV. I think it’s really interesting that treating partners helps but it’s definitely not in the same category as chlamydia”. -- I also have seen women of various ages who do develop BV without any sexual activity. And the association of BV with alkalinization of the vagina (by s...