Bacterial Vaginosis
Bacterial Vaginosis is one of the most common causes of infection in the female reproductive system. It is defined as the condition whereby the normal flora (Lactobacillus) in the vagina is out-populated by abnormally growing bacteria. In physiology, a woman’s genital area has a healthy supply of naturally occurring bacterial flora that helps fend off unwanted foreign and potentially harmful bacteria. An imbalance of any kind (too much or too little) can result in BV. This condition is not a sexually transmitted disease; but it does tend to target women in their child bearing years.
It has a high occurrence (1 in every 10 women are at least affected by the disease once in their lifetime). A rough estimate indicates that 29% of women in USA are afflicted by bacterial vaginosis. The incidence rate increases to 60% in women having prevalent sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), like gonorrhea or AIDS and varies between 10-64% in pregnant women. Incidence has also been reported in pre- and post-menopausal women.
As a rule, most cases of BV, whether these are properly diagnosed or remain undetected, do not pose as life-threatening hazards to the women who carry them. They can be embarrassing at times especially if the fishy smell increases. However, the foul smelling discharge in itself does not endanger the person’s health. Unfortunately, for sexually active women, having BV may mean increasing the possibility of being prone to transmission of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV. Again, it is the bacterial flora that remains responsible in keeping potentially dangerous bacteria away, and any imbalance can lower the woman’s immune defenses considerably. This in turn makes it easy for virulent STDs to infect the woman through sexual intercourse.
Common treatments for bacterial vaginosis includes antibiotics. As you may already know, a very high percent of women who take antibiotics for BV will have recurring infections within a couple months. Reinfection usually occurs after antibiotic treatment because antibiotics only treat the symptoms of BV and not the causes.
Most Prominent Symptoms of Bacterial Vaginosis
Bacterial vaginosis is asymptomatic (no noticeable symptoms) in 50% of the cases. It can go undetected until a per-vagina or pelvic examination during a routine visit to the primary care physician. Moreover, in cases where there are apparent symptoms, subsequent diagnosis has to be definitive as many of them overlap with those observed in vaginal yeast infections, STDs and other vaginal infections. The cases where symptoms are observed are due to the overall outcome of inflammation of the mucosal (moist, sensitive outer lining of the vaginal walls) surface caused by abnormal bacterial infestation.
Very often, this medical condition is confused with other vaginal infections like candidiasis (yeast infection) or trichomoniasis (infection caused by Trichomonas vaginalis). However, the two aforementioned conditions are not bacteria-based, and therefore do not qualify as Bacterial Vaginosis or BV.
In mild cases, women with BV do not show any outwards signs or symptoms. Except a fish-smelling vaginal discharge, (usually appearing after sexual intercourse,) mild cases showcase no other symptoms. It should be noted here that normal discharge should be clear and odorless. For women with moderate to serious cases, some of the more common symptoms include: intense itching, irritation, swelling and an increase either in the amount of the vaginal discharge, or the intensity of the smell of the liquid. Cramps and stomach pains are also common. It is therefore easy to see why this medical condition is very often misdiagnosed as something else. Click here to read more about the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis.
BV can also lead to complications regarding pregnancies. According to research, undiagnosed BV can lead to difficult birthing, miscarriages, and even fetal poisoning. Stomach cramps also become more intense when a pregnant woman has BV. PID or pelvic inflammatory disease also sets in when a woman with said medical condition undergoes any surgical procedure that has to do with the female reproductive system (e.g. abortion and hysterectomy.)
Under normal circumstances it is a fine balance between the two and the normal flora contributes to the maintenance of vaginal health. It is also known as Gardnerella-associated Vaginitis or Vaginitis (‘itis’ means inflammation). Gardnerella was initially indicated as the bacteria whose abnormal growth in the vagina leads to bacterial vaginosis. But as discovered later, there are other causative bacterial organisms (Bacteroides, Mobiluncus, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticu, and Chlamydia vaginitis) that can cause this particular disease.
