For decades, women have been treated (and often blamed) for a common vaginal infection, bacterial vaginosis (BV)—while their male partners skated by untouched. But according to a new study, it turns out that BV isn’t just a “women’s issue.” It’s a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and ignoring this fact is why so many women suffer from repeat infections.
This research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirms what many suspected: BV is likely passed between sexual partners. And yet, medical guidelines still treat it like a random, unexplainable occurrence—leaving women to battle a relentless cycle of treatment and reinfection, while men, quite literally, wash their hands of the problem.
A Hidden Epidemic Affecting Millions
Bacterial vaginosis affects one in three women worldwide, making it more common than chlamydia or gonorrhea. Unlike other well-known STDs, BV doesn’t always come with dramatic symptoms—sometimes there’s just a mild itch, an unusual discharge, or a strange odor. And for many, it’s completely silent.
But make no mistake: BV is far from harmless. If left untreated, it increases the risk of HIV, complicates pregnancy, and can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which is linked to infertility.
The worst part? It keeps coming back. Studies show that nearly half of all women treated for BV with antibiotics experience a relapse within a few months.
According to Dr. Catriona Bradshaw, senior author of the study and a professor at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, this isn’t just bad luck—it’s because women are only treating half of the problem.
Men Are Carrying the Infection—And No One Is Treating Them
For years, doctors have assumed BV was just a case of “bad bacteria” overgrowing in the vagina. But this new study found that the bacteria responsible for BV also live on men’s skin and in their urethra.
Dr. Lenka Vodstrcil, one of the study’s lead researchers, explained:
“We have clear evidence that men can carry the bacteria that cause BV. When only the woman is treated, her male partner can simply pass it back to her. This is why so many women struggle with recurring infections.”
The researchers tested a new approach: treating both partners instead of just the woman. The results? BV recurrence dropped by over 50%.
Doctors Have Been Getting It Wrong—For Decades
Despite the overwhelming evidence, the medical establishment has been slow to change. Current guidelines only treat the woman—because, historically, BV hasn’t been classified as an STD. This outdated thinking means that even when women follow doctors’ orders, they often end up right back where they started.
Dr. Bradshaw’s team conducted a clinical trial with 164 couples. One group followed the standard treatment: the woman took oral antibiotics, while the man did nothing. The other group tried the new approach: both partners took oral antibiotics, and men also applied a topical antibiotic to their penis.
The difference was striking.
Women whose partners were also treated had a 60% lower chance of reinfection.
Dr. Bradshaw summed it up:
“This study proves that BV is, in fact, sexually transmitted. Treating only the woman is like treating one person for an STD while ignoring their partner—it just doesn’t work.”
The Medical System’s Blind Spot: Women’s Health
If BV primarily affected men, would it still be ignored like this? Unlikely.
There’s a long history of women’s health concerns being dismissed or under-researched. From the way heart attacks present differently in women (but were studied based on male symptoms) to the delays in endometriosis diagnosis, the medical field has a bad habit of treating women’s health as an afterthought.
BV is no different.
Even though treating both partners is the obvious solution, the medical community has been painfully slow to update its guidelines. Instead, millions of women are stuck in a cycle of ineffective treatment, while their male partners unknowingly (or knowingly) reintroduce the infection.
A Simple Fix—That No One Is Implementing
The study’s findings are already changing practices in Australia, where the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre has begun treating both partners. But outside of research settings, little has changed.
Doctors need to start treating BV as what it really is: an STD.
For couples dealing with recurrent BV, the message is clear: If your doctor only prescribes antibiotics for the woman, ask about treating both partners.
Some researchers have created online resources to help couples access male partner treatment. But until global guidelines change, millions of women will continue fighting the same infection over and over again.
The Bottom Line
The science is clear: bacterial vaginosis is an STD. Treating men alongside their female partners could cut recurrence rates in half. Yet, medical guidelines are still lagging behind the evidence—leaving women to bear the brunt of the problem alone.
This isn’t just a medical issue. It’s a failure of the healthcare system to take women’s health seriously. And until that changes, BV will keep coming back—again and again.
