Latest news with #MelbourneSexualHealthCentre
Time Magazine
08-05-2025
- Health
- Time Magazine
Catriona Bradshaw
Most women have experienced, or at least heard of, bacterial vaginosis (BV). One in three women of reproductive age is affected by the condition, which was previously viewed as an imbalance in the vaginal microbiome. BV—which can increase a woman's risk of miscarriage in all trimesters of pregnancy, of preterm birth, and of acquiring and transmitting other STIs—is typically treated with antibiotics like metronidazole or clindamycin for affected female patients, and is notorious for having a high recurrence rate of 60% to 80%. Most men, though, are not familiar with the condition. Catriona Bradshaw, a clinician and Head of the Genital Microbiota & Mycoplasma Group at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, has studied BV over two decades to find more effective ways to treat it. She led a ground-breaking study published March 2025 in the New England Journal of Medicine which found that BV actually fits the profile of a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and that treating the male partner as well is key to preventing recurrence. Bradshaw's experience volunteering at an STI clinic in Malawi in 1998 vaulted her into a PhD in Sexual Health Medicine at the University of Melbourne and a career studying two particularly challenging STIs: mycoplasma genitalium and bacterial vaginosis. She pioneered a new strategy called resistance-guided therapy that raised the cure rate for mycoplasma genitalium, an emerging drug-resistant superbug. Her research has informed international diagnosis and therapy guidelines for the World Health Organization, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine, the CDC, and more. Her team wants to work with the manufacturer of the clindamycin cream used in their BV study to make the treatment more widely available to men. Research into issues like BV, which fall under the umbrella category of women's health, is 'still considered low priority in terms of all the other competing interests,' Bradshaw says. 'There's a lot more work to be done but it's wonderful to have made a fairly significant inroad to help us disentangle what's going on more.'
National Geographic
12-03-2025
- Health
- National Geographic
Researchers find that bacterial vaginosis is really an STI
For decades, bacterial vaginosis (BV) has been treated as a frustrating but routine infection—one that afflicts nearly a third of women in the U.S. and often comes back again and again for more than half of patients. But what if the reason for these relentless recurrences isn't just a quirk of the vaginal microbiome? A groundbreaking new study suggests BV isn't just an imbalance—it's sexually transmitted. And the key to stopping it may not lie in treating women alone but in treating their male partners as well. 'One dominant risk factor… in our clinical studies was a regular partner,' says Catriona Bradshaw, an author of the study and a clinician at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University. '[It] kept popping out and just smacking us between the eyes, and we got to a point where we thought 'we just have to do a partner treatment trial.'' Is bacterial vaginosis sexually transmitted? BV occurs when the perfect storm of bacteria combines in the vagina. Unlike typical sexually transmitted infections (STIs), no single pathogen is responsible. But, it has long been suspected that these bacteria can be sexually transmitted. 'We've had evidence for many years that bacterial vaginosis might be a sexually transmitted infection, based on data that includes increased risk of bacterial vaginosis with increasing number of sexual partners, increased risk with sex without a condom, and other evidence,' says David Fredricks, a clinician and microbiologist at the University of Washington. 'Although this hypothesis has been out there for many decades, some limited studies of male partner treatment to eradicate BV associated bacteria have not met with success.'
CNN
06-03-2025
- Health
- CNN
Common vaginal condition is really an STD, study finds
A common but potentially dangerous vaginal infection that affects nearly 1 in 3 women globally should be considered a sexually transmitted disease, a new study says. Bacterial vaginosis, or BV, is currently viewed as a woman's issue, thus leaving the sexual partner untreated. 'I started getting them quite recurrently. I'd go to doctors and get treated with antibiotics, and it would almost always come back,' said Hanae, a woman who participated in the clinical trial on BV conducted in Melbourne, Australia. 'It's like not really worth it for me to even go to doctors,' said Hanae, whose last name was withheld by the study authors to protect her privacy. For half of all women with bacterial vaginosis, the infection returns after completion of a week of antibiotics, the preferred medical treatment for BV, said first author Lenka Vodstrcil, a senior research fellow at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University in Australia. 'The bacteria that cause BV can be located in men, especially in penile skin and also in the urethra,' Vodstrcil said in a news release. 'This suggests that BV is probably sexually transmitted, and that is why so many women get it back again after treatment.' When BV was treated as a sexually transmitted disease, with both partners receiving oral antibiotics and men using topical creams, the recurrence rate dropped by over half, according to the study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. 'Our trial has shown that reinfection from partners is causing a lot of the BV recurrence women experience, and provides evidence that BV is in fact a STI (sexually transmitted infection),' said senior author Catriona Bradshaw in an email. Bradshaw is a professor at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University. A potentially dangerous infection Symptoms of BV can include itching, pain while urinating, an odd odor and a thin, white vaginal discharge. For some women, however, BV is a silent predator, attacking without such telltale symptoms. If left untreated, bacterial vaginosis can increase the risk of acquiring HIV as well as sexually transmitted infections, according to the World Health Organization. Women with BV can also develop an infection in the fallopian tubes, ovaries or uterus called pelvic inflammatory disease, the WHO states on its website. Such infections can lead to later infertility, experts say. 'We see very significant changes in a range of inflammatory markers, inflammatory cells and bacterial enzymes and products that result in damage to the epithelium — the lining of the reproductive tract,' Bradshaw said. Bacterial vaginosis is especially dangerous during pregnancy. The infection can lead to premature birth, spontaneous abortion and low birth weight in the baby, according to the WHO. It's time for a 'paradigm shift' in treatment The randomized clinical trial of 164 monogamous couples was conducted at multiple centers in Australia. In 81 of the couples, both partners were treated with seven days of oral antibiotics. During that time, the male partner also used a topical antibiotic on their penis twice a day. In accordance with current recommended treatment, only the woman in the other 83 couples was treated with an oral antibiotic. While the study only treated heterosexual couples, it's 'important to note that women in same sex relationships also transmit BV bacteria between each other during sex, and that these same sex couples in monogamous relationships have very high rates of concordance for BV — both have it or both don't have it,' Bradshaw said. The trial was meant to last for 12 weeks, but researchers stopped it early when it was quickly apparent that treating both partners reduced BV occurrence by 60%. Viewing such a common vaginal infection as a sexually transmitted disease would be a 'paradigm shift' and would require doctors to encourage a woman's male partner to share responsibility for transmission and treatment, according to an editorial published alongside the study. 'It will also require a willingness of male partners to commit to taking both oral and topical medications, once notified by their female partner that she has bacterial vaginosis and that it is probably sexually transmitted,' wrote Dr. Christina Muzny and Dr. Jack Sobel, who were not involved in the new research. Muzny is a professor of infectious disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sobel is a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. Men in the study had no problem completing the course of oral and topical antibiotics, with few to no side effects, the study found. 'We have now used this medication in close to 300 men and we have not had any report that side effects from the medication would stop them taking it,' Bradshaw said. The Melbourne Sexual Health Centre has already changed its protocols and are now treating both partners when BV is detected, Bradshaw added. For health professionals and couples interested in treating both partners, the research team is developing a website that provides detailed information on male partner treatment. 'Changes in national and international treatment guidelines always take time, so we felt an obligation to provide accurate online and downloadable information,' Bradshaw said.
CNN
06-03-2025
- Health
- CNN
Common vaginal condition is really an STD, study finds
A common but potentially dangerous vaginal infection that affects nearly 1 in 3 women globally should be considered a sexually transmitted disease, a new study says. Bacterial vaginosis, or BV, is currently viewed as a woman's issue, thus leaving the sexual partner untreated. 'I started getting them quite recurrently. I'd go to doctors and get treated with antibiotics, and it would almost always come back,' said Hanae, a woman who participated in the clinical trial on BV conducted in Melbourne, Australia. 'It's like not really worth it for me to even go to doctors,' said Hanae, whose last name was withheld by the study authors to protect her privacy. For half of all women with bacterial vaginosis, the infection returns after completion of a week of antibiotics, the preferred medical treatment for BV, said first author Lenka Vodstrcil, a senior research fellow at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University in Australia. 'The bacteria that cause BV can be located in men, especially in penile skin and also in the urethra,' Vodstrcil said in a news release. 'This suggests that BV is probably sexually transmitted, and that is why so many women get it back again after treatment.' When BV was treated as a sexually transmitted disease, with both partners receiving oral antibiotics and men using topical creams, the recurrence rate dropped by over half, according to the study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. 'Our trial has shown that reinfection from partners is causing a lot of the BV recurrence women experience, and provides evidence that BV is in fact a STI (sexually transmitted infection),' said senior author Catriona Bradshaw in an email. Bradshaw is a professor at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University. A potentially dangerous infection Symptoms of BV can include itching, pain while urinating, an odd odor and a thin, white vaginal discharge. For some women, however, BV is a silent predator, attacking without such telltale symptoms. If left untreated, bacterial vaginosis can increase the risk of acquiring HIV as well as sexually transmitted infections, according to the World Health Organization. Women with BV can also develop an infection in the fallopian tubes, ovaries or uterus called pelvic inflammatory disease, the WHO states on its website. Such infections can lead to later infertility, experts say. 'We see very significant changes in a range of inflammatory markers, inflammatory cells and bacterial enzymes and products that result in damage to the epithelium — the lining of the reproductive tract,' Bradshaw said. Bacterial vaginosis is especially dangerous during pregnancy. The infection can lead to premature birth, spontaneous abortion and low birth weight in the baby, according to the WHO. It's time for a 'paradigm shift' in treatment The randomized clinical trial of 164 monogamous couples was conducted at multiple centers in Australia. In 81 of the couples, both partners were treated with seven days of oral antibiotics. During that time, the male partner also used a topical antibiotic on their penis twice a day. In accordance with current recommended treatment, only the woman in the other 83 couples was treated with an oral antibiotic. While the study only treated heterosexual couples, it's 'important to note that women in same sex relationships also transmit BV bacteria between each other during sex, and that these same sex couples in monogamous relationships have very high rates of concordance for BV — both have it or both don't have it,' Bradshaw said. The trial was meant to last for 12 weeks, but researchers stopped it early when it was quickly apparent that treating both partners reduced BV occurrence by 60%. Viewing such a common vaginal infection as a sexually transmitted disease would be a 'paradigm shift' and would require doctors to encourage a woman's male partner to share responsibility for transmission and treatment, according to an editorial published alongside the study. 'It will also require a willingness of male partners to commit to taking both oral and topical medications, once notified by their female partner that she has bacterial vaginosis and that it is probably sexually transmitted,' wrote Dr. Christina Muzny and Dr. Jack Sobel, who were not involved in the new research. Muzny is a professor of infectious disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sobel is a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. Men in the study had no problem completing the course of oral and topical antibiotics, with few to no side effects, the study found. 'We have now used this medication in close to 300 men and we have not had any report that side effects from the medication would stop them taking it,' Bradshaw said. The Melbourne Sexual Health Centre has already changed its protocols and are now treating both partners when BV is detected, Bradshaw added. For health professionals and couples interested in treating both partners, the research team is developing a website that provides detailed information on male partner treatment. 'Changes in national and international treatment guidelines always take time, so we felt an obligation to provide accurate online and downloadable information,' Bradshaw said.
CNN
05-03-2025
- Health
- CNN
Common vaginal condition is really an STD, study finds
A common but potentially dangerous vaginal infection that affects nearly 1 in 3 women globally should be considered a sexually transmitted disease, a new study says. Bacterial vaginosis, or BV, is currently viewed as a woman's issue, thus leaving the sexual partner untreated. 'I started getting them quite recurrently. I'd go to doctors and get treated with antibiotics, and it would almost always come back,' said Hanae, a woman who participated in the clinical trial on BV conducted in Melbourne, Australia. 'It's like not really worth it for me to even go to doctors,' said Hanae, whose last name was withheld by the study authors to protect her privacy. For half of all women with bacterial vaginosis, the infection returns after completion of a week of antibiotics, the preferred medical treatment for BV, said first author Lenka Vodstrcil, a senior research fellow at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University in Australia. 'The bacteria that cause BV can be located in men, especially in penile skin and also in the urethra,' Vodstrcil said in a news release. 'This suggests that BV is probably sexually transmitted, and that is why so many women get it back again after treatment.' When BV was treated as a sexually transmitted disease, with both partners receiving oral antibiotics and men using topical creams, the recurrence rate dropped by over half, according to the study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. 'Our trial has shown that reinfection from partners is causing a lot of the BV recurrence women experience, and provides evidence that BV is in fact a STI (sexually transmitted infection),' said senior author Catriona Bradshaw in an email. Bradshaw is a professor at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre at Monash University. A potentially dangerous infection Symptoms of BV can include itching, pain while urinating, an odd odor and a thin, white vaginal discharge. For some women, however, BV is a silent predator, attacking without such telltale symptoms. If left untreated, bacterial vaginosis can increase the risk of acquiring HIV as well as sexually transmitted infections, according to the World Health Organization. Women with BV can also develop an infection in the fallopian tubes, ovaries or uterus called pelvic inflammatory disease, the WHO states on its website. Such infections can lead to later infertility, experts say. 'We see very significant changes in a range of inflammatory markers, inflammatory cells and bacterial enzymes and products that result in damage to the epithelium — the lining of the reproductive tract,' Bradshaw said. Bacterial vaginosis is especially dangerous during pregnancy. The infection can lead to premature birth, spontaneous abortion and low birth weight in the baby, according to the WHO. It's time for a 'paradigm shift' in treatment The randomized clinical trial of 164 monogamous couples was conducted at multiple centers in Australia. In 81 of the couples, both partners were treated with seven days of oral antibiotics. During that time, the male partner also used a topical antibiotic on their penis twice a day. In accordance with current recommended treatment, only the woman in the other 83 couples was treated with an oral antibiotic. While the study only treated heterosexual couples, it's 'important to note that women in same sex relationships also transmit BV bacteria between each other during sex, and that these same sex couples in monogamous relationships have very high rates of concordance for BV — both have it or both don't have it,' Bradshaw said. The trial was meant to last for 12 weeks, but researchers stopped it early when it was quickly apparent that treating both partners reduced BV occurrence by 60%. Viewing such a common vaginal infection as a sexually transmitted disease would be a 'paradigm shift' and would require doctors to encourage a woman's male partner to share responsibility for transmission and treatment, according to an editorial published alongside the study. 'It will also require a willingness of male partners to commit to taking both oral and topical medications, once notified by their female partner that she has bacterial vaginosis and that it is probably sexually transmitted,' wrote Dr. Christina Muzny and Dr. Jack Sobel, who were not involved in the new research. Muzny is a professor of infectious disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sobel is a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. Men in the study had no problem completing the course of oral and topical antibiotics, with few to no side effects, the study found. 'We have now used this medication in close to 300 men and we have not had any report that side effects from the medication would stop them taking it,' Bradshaw said. The Melbourne Sexual Health Centre has already changed its protocols and are now treating both partners when BV is detected, Bradshaw added. For health professionals and couples interested in treating both partners, the research team is developing a website that provides detailed information on male partner treatment. 'Changes in national and international treatment guidelines always take time, so we felt an obligation to provide accurate online and downloadable information,' Bradshaw said.
