Bacterial vaginosis and health complications

If you are pregnant and have symptoms of bacterial vaginosis, it is very important to see your GP or another health service so that you can be treated. Untreated bacterial vaginosis can cause complications in pregnancy, including premature birth and miscarriage.

Women with HIV who have bacterial vaginosis may be more likely to pass on HIV during sex and there is also a greater risk of passing on HIV to a baby during delivery.

Although bacterial vaginosis sometimes goes away by itself as the balance of bacteria in the vagina corrects itself, it is important that HIV-positive women who believe that they may have the condition are screened for it and if necessary take treatment. It is particularly important that women who are pregnant or thinking about pregnancy have their symptoms investigated and, if necessary, are treated.

Treatment is with antibiotics. Metronidazole can be used as an oral treatment. Treatment usually lasts for seven days and consists of twice-daily doses of 400mg. An alternative oral Metronidazole treatment is a single 2g dose. Another possible treatment is an antibiotic gel applied in the vagina once a day for five days. Metronidazole is available in a gel formulation, as is an antibiotic called clindamycin. It’s important that you take all the treatment prescribed to you.