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Treating Male Partners Reduces Recurrence in Bacterial Vaginosis

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 10, 2025.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, March 10, 2025 -- Treating male partners in addition to women with bacterial vaginosis results in a lower rate of recurrence than treating only women, according to a study published in the March 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Lenka A. Vodstrcil, Ph.D., from the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University in Australia, and colleagues conducted an open-label, randomized controlled trial involving monogamous heterosexual couples in which the woman had bacterial vaginosis. In the partner-treatment group, the woman received first-line recommended antimicrobial agents and the male partner received oral and topical antimicrobial treatment (metronidazole 400-mg tablets and 2 percent clindamycin cream applied to penile skin, both twice daily for seven days), while in the control group, the woman received first-line treatment and the male partner received no treatment. Eighty-one and 83 couples were assigned to the partner-treatment and control groups, respectively.

After 150 couples had completed the 12-week follow-up period, the trial was stopped by the data and safety monitoring board because treatment of the woman only was inferior to treatment of both the woman and her male partner. The researchers found that recurrence occurred in 35 and 63 percent of women in the partner-treatment and control groups, respectively, in the modified intention-to-treat population (recurrence rate, 1.6 and 4.2 per person-year, respectively). Adverse events included nausea, headache, and metallic taste in treated men.

"Our trial showed that treating male partners with a week of oral metronidazole and topical clindamycin, together with treatment of women, resulted in a lower rate of recurrence of bacterial vaginosis within 12 weeks than treatment of the woman alone," the authors write.

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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Posted March 2025

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