#vagtok

14.5K posts

For decades, bacterial vaginosis (BV) treatment has focused solely on women—even as evidence pointed to reinfection from untreated partners. And all the while, jokes about “fishy” odor have echoed through pop culture, piling stigma onto science’s blind spots. BV is the most common đŸ± infection, affecting 1 in 3 women. It’s notorious for coming back again and again—more than half of cases recur within a year. While BV can also be triggered by other things (like hormones or pH changes), women have noticed BV flaring up after s3ggs, and studies have found BV-related bacteria down there on men. But because early research only tested oral antibiotics in men (which didn’t work), the idea that BV could be s3xually transmitted was largely dismissed—leaving women to manage it alone. Now, a major study finally proves otherwise. Researchers treated both women and their male partners—using oral and topical antibiotics—and BV recurrence dropped by nearly HALF. The findings were so clear that the study was actually stopped early so all participants could access the treatment. This is a huge breakthrough—not just for BV care, but for how we think about vaginal health. No one should ever be mocked for a medical symptom, and it’s time to make BV care a shared responsibility. SOURCE: Vodstrcil, Lenka A et al. “Male-Partner Treatment to Prevent Recurrence of Bacterial Vaginosis.” The New England Journal of Medicine vol. 392,10 (2025): 947-957. PMID: 40043236 #BacterialVaginosis #BVtalks #vagtok #WomensHealth