Bacterial vaginosis
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is poorly understood by women and many believe they have thrush when in fact they have BV. BV is the most common cause of vaginal discharge in women during their reproductive years.
Symptoms
The main symptom of BV is vaginal discharge which can display one or all of the following characteristics:
- Strong fishy smell which is particularly pungent after sexual intercourse
- White or grey in colour
- Thin and watery
- Coating on the wall of the vagina
BV does not normally cause itching, irritation or soreness therefore if a customer describes any of these symptoms it is unlikely to be BV or they may have a secondary infection. Approximately 50%2 of women who have BV will have no symptoms.
BV can cause complications such as increasing the risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease. In pregnant women the complications can be very serious; they are at an increased risk of:
- Miscarriage
- Low birth weight baby
- Premature baby
- Pre-term labour (the baby is fully developed but labour is before 39 weeks)
- Postpartum endometritis (infection of the womb after childbirth)
When to refer?
Customers should be referred to the pharmacist if they:
- Are pregnant or have recently given birth.
- Recently had a miscarriage or termination of pregnancy.
- Have had a recent sexually transmitted infection (STI).
- Have vaginal itching, irritation or soreness.
- Have other symptoms that are not consistent with BV including abdominal pain, abnormal bleeding, pain during sexual intercourse, or fever.
- Have recently been treated for BV and either the symptoms have returned or were not fully cleared by the treatment.
- Have had a recent gynaecological procedure.
- Are taking other medication.