Bacterial Vaginosis in Lesbians: A Sexually Transmitted Disease

Sexual transmission of bacterial vaginosis(BV), a common syndrome in sexually active women, has not been previouslyestablished.Becauseno male counterpart for BVhas been found, a population of lesbians is an ideal one in which to test the hypothesis that BVis sexually transmitted. We studied 103 homo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical infectious diseases 1995-12, Vol.21 (6), p.1402-1405
Main Authors: Berger, Barbara J., Kolton, Shelley, Zenilman, Jonathan M., Cummings, Marinella C., Feldman, Joseph, McCormack, William M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacterial vaginosis
Biological and medical sciences
Chlamydia trachomatis
Clinical Articles
Etiology
Female
Female homosexuality
Follow-Up Studies
General aspects
Gynecology
Homosexuality, Female
Human infectious diseases. Experimental studies and models
Humans
Infections
Infectious diseases
Medical sciences
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Prevalence
Secretion
Sexual partners
Sexually transmitted diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - epidemiology
Sexually Transmitted Diseases - transmission
Vagina - metabolism
Vaginitis
Vaginosis, Bacterial - epidemiology
Vaginosis, Bacterial - transmission
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Summary:Sexual transmission of bacterial vaginosis(BV), a common syndrome in sexually active women, has not been previouslyestablished.Becauseno male counterpart for BVhas been found, a population of lesbians is an ideal one in which to test the hypothesis that BVis sexually transmitted. We studied 103 homosexualwomen (lesbians) who sought gynecologic care at a community clinic and in a private gynecology practice in New York City. Participants were asked to refer their sexual partners for evaluation. In this cross-sectional prevalence study, all participants were evaluated for the presence of BV, and pairs of monogamous sexual partners were analyzed for concordance of their vaginal secretions.Twenty-nine(28.7%) of the 101 participants from whomsatisfactoryvaginal wash samples were available had BV. There were 21 pairs of monogamous partners. Of 11 index women who had BV, eight (72.7%) had partners who also had BV. Of 10 index women who did not have BV, only one (10%) had a partner with BV. The likelihood of a partner's having BV was 19.7 times greater if the index case had BV(P < .008; 95% CI, 2.1–588.0). We conclude that with respect to BV, lesbians in monogamous relationships usually have concordant vaginal secretions. This concordance probably reflects the sexual transmission of BV between lesbians.
ISSN:1058-4838
1537-6591
DOI:10.1093/clinids/21.6.1402