GYN CHRONICLES
Bacterial Vaginosis
Dr. Maureen Owiti
P
enning my column piece post filing
deadline is a very stressful situation
with the publisher all over my head!
So I thought I’d write about an equally
stressful condition, Bacterial Vaginosis or
BV as we call it.
What is Bacterial Vaginosis (BV )? Ever
had a discharge with a fishy smell that gets
worse after intercourse? Well if you haven’t
just praise the Lord. Those of you who have
had this nasty experience kindly share the
article especially with your friends you
may just save a relationship and above all
restore your friend’s self-esteem.
To answer the question it is easier to
outline what Bacterial Vaginosis is not.
For the normal woman in reproductive
age there is a wonderful bacteria that lives
in the vagina and we call it lactobacillus.
What is great about Mr. Lactobacillus is
that its presence makes the vagina to be
slightly more acidic making it a hostile
environment for other bad bacteria to
flourish. Bacterial Vaginosis is a shift
in the normal flora or dysbacteriosis.
In simple terms it’s when there is an
imbalance in terms of the expected micro-
organisms that should live in the vagina or
a disruption of the micro-environment in
the vagina.
The vagina like all other epithelium has
microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi or
viruses that live there and their role is to
protect it. The common epithelium would
be the skin, inner lining of the nose and
respiratory system or even the lining of
the stomach and digestive tract. They each
would have a defense mechanism and
most have a special bacteria that plays
that role and in the case of the vagina it is
lactobacillus.
The challenge with many diseases is that
Risk factors that may predispose patients
to Bacterial Vaginosis include recent an-
tibiotic use, decreased estrogen produc-
tion of the host, wearing an intrauterine
device (IUD), douching, tub bathing es-
pecially with scented gels and soaps, use
of over the counter intra-vaginal hygiene
products, sexual activity that could lead
to transmission (e.g. having a new sexual
partner or a recent increase in the num-
ber of sexual partners).
22 MAL32/19 ISSUE
they can be asymptomatic meaning they
have no outright symptoms. However
when symptoms are present, they are very
distressing as normal women do not enjoy
having an offensive odour coming from
their private parts. Other symptoms may
include a vaginal discharge, irritation
of the vulvar and in rare instances pain
or burning sensation when taking a pee
- dysuria, or even pain during sexual
intercourse - dyspareunia. Yikes nothing
here sounds like anything one wants to go
through. These symptoms may also cause
sexual dysfunction as the woman will not
have confidence and feel desirable to her
partner.
Risk factors that may predispose patients to
BV include recent antibiotic use, decreased
estrogen production of the host, wearing
an intrauterine device (IUD), douching,
tub bathing especially with scented gels
and soaps, use of over the counter intra-
vaginal hygiene products, sexual activity
that could lead to transmission (e.g. having
a new sexual partner or a recent increase in
the number of sexual partners).
Mitigation
So you have an offensive odour coming from
the V area or any of the aforementioned
symptoms what should you do. VISIT
YOUR GYNAECOLOGIST!!! I wrote
this in Caps as I feel the best person to
manage such issues is obviously a gynae.
In the event that you don’t have one or
you are unable to, at least see a doctor and
they should be able to help. It has been
found that patients are generally very poor
at self-diagnosis and the worst one is Dr
Google!