Communicable E29: Bacterial vaginosis & male partners

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) was long considered not to be a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and treatment was only for women to bear. That was the convention at least until Catriona Bradshaw and her team at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre published their groundbreaking clinical trial results earlier this year, demonstrating that treating male partners of women with BV prevented recurrence in those women. In this episode of Communicable, hosts Angela Huttner and Annie Joseph welcome back Bradshaw to discuss her trial’s design, results, and clinical implications—with some guidelines already updated to include male partners in BV treatment regimens. The conversation also explores the complexities of BV diagnosis, the challenges of trial execution in general, and future research directions.

This episode was edited by Kathryn Hostettler and peer reviewed by Arjana Zerja (Mother Theresa University Hospital Centre, Tirana, Albania)

References

1. Vodstricil LA, et al. Male-partner treatment to prevent recurrence of bacterial vaginosis. N Engl J Med 2025. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2405404
2. Bacterial vaginosis in focus. Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC). https://www.mshc.org.au/sexual-health/bacterial-vaginosis

Further reading

• Auvert B, et al. Randomized, controlled intervention trial of male circumcision for reduction of HIV infection risk: the ANRS 1265 Trial. PLoS Med 2005. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020298
• Bailey RC, et al. Male circumcision for HIV prevention in young men in Kisumu, Kenya: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2007. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60312-2
• Bukusi E, et al. Topical penile microbicide use by men to prevent recurrent bacterial vaginosis in sex partners: A randomized clinical trial, Sex Transmi Dis 2011. DOI: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e318214b82d
• Cohen CR, et al. Randomized trial of Lactin-V to prevent recurrence of bacterial vaginosis. N Engl J Med 2020. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1915254
• Gray RH, et al. The effects of male circumcision on female partners' genital tract symptoms and vaginal infections in a randomized trial in Rakai, Uganda, Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2008.07.069
• King AJ, et al. Getting Everyone on Board to Break the Cycle of Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) Recurrence: A Qualitative Study of Partner Treatment for BV. Patient 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s40271-025-00731-z
• Mehta S, et al. The microbiome composition of a man's penis predicts incident bacterial vaginosis in his female sex partner with high accuracy, Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00433
• Muzny CA, et al. An Updated Conceptual Model on the Pathogenesis of Bacterial Vaginosis. J Infect Dis 2019 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz342
• Mitchell CM, et al. Screening and characterization of vaginal fluid donations for vaginal microbiota transplantation, Sci Rep 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22873-y
• Plummer EL, et al. A Prospective, Open-Label Pilot Study of Concurrent Male Partner Treatment for Bacterial Vaginosis. mBio 2021. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02323-21
• Plummer EL, et al. Combined oral and topical antimicrobial therapy for male partners of women with bacterial vaginosis: Acceptability, tolerability and impact on the genital microbiota of couples - A pilot study. PLoS One 2018. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190199
• Vodstrcil LA, et al. Bacterial vaginosis: drivers of recurrence and challenges and opportunities in partner treatment. BMC Med 2021. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-021-02077-3
• Wawer MJ, et al. Wawer MJ, et al. Circumcision in HIV-infected men and its effect on HIV transmission to female partners in Rakai, Uganda: A randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2009. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60998-3