NxGen MDx Vaginosis Test
The NxGen MDx Vaginosis Test looks for 99% of the causes of community-acquired vaginal infections, helping your doctor distinguish between different types of infections without relying on symptoms alone.
Bacterial vaginosis, or BV, is a common vaginal infection in women. It is the most common vaginal infection in women of childbearing age, including pregnant women.
While it is not a sexually transmitted disease (STD), some sexual behaviors increase the chances for BV. Women who have never had sex can also have BV.
How is it spread?
The vagina contains many different types of bacteria. Normally, there are large numbers of "good" bacteria that keep the number of "harmful" bacteria very low. Bacterial vaginosis occurs when this balance is upset and there are more "harmful" bacteria than "good" bacteria. The cause of BV is not fully understood.
The risk of BV is higher if you:
Have a new sex partner or multiple sex partners
Do not use condoms
Have a female sexual partner with BV
BV is more common in lesbian and bisexual women than in other women. The reason for this is unknown.
What are signs of BV in women?
Women with BV may have few or no signs of infection. Some women with BV have:
Increased vaginal discharge:
Often watery
Gray or white in color
Sometimes has an unpleasant, fish-like odor, especially after sex
Itching or irritation in the vaginal area
Burning during urination
How do you know if you have BV?
BV can be diagnosed during a medical exam. To check for BV, your health care provider looks for signs of infection and collects a sample of vaginal fluid for lab tests.
How is it treated?
BV is treated with antibiotics. These can be in pill form, creams, gels, or ovules. Sometimes BV goes away without treatment.
Female partners of women with BV may need treatment. Male sexual partners do not need treatment
What can happen if you have BV for a long time?
Most often, BV does not cause other health problems. However, if left untreated, BV may increase your risk for:
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV
Pelvic inflammatory disease where BV bacteria infect the uterus or fallopian tubes. Pelvic inflammatory disease can cause infertility and increase the risk of ectopic (tubal) pregnancy.
An infection after a procedure on the female organs. This includes cesarean section, abortion, and surgery on the cervix or uterus.
Early labor or birth, if pregnant
If you have BV:
Always finish antibiotic treatment, even if the signs of BV go away
Talk to female sex partners about getting BV treatment
How can you avoid BV?
Protect the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina by:
Not douching
Asking your sex partners to be examined for BV
Having sex with only one person who only has sex with you
Using condoms during sex
Reducing the number of sex partners
Washing the genital area daily with mild soap and water
For more information, see Safer Sex.
What about pregnancy?
BV is common in pregnant women. Treatment is very important. BV can increase the risk for:
Low birth weight babies
Early labor and birth
If you are pregnant and have BV, see your health care provider one month after finishing treatment.
Biomarkers in this category
3 biomarkers · optimal ranges shown
Prevotella bivia (P. bivia) is an anaerobic, non-pigmented, gramnegative bacillus which is naturally present in the human female vaginal tract, and it is also occasionally seen in the oral cavity. It has a high proliferative potential in the presence of estrogen. Therefore, its involvement in, vaginal tract infections such as endometritis and pelvic inflammatory disease, has been well described in the literature. If left untreated, it may cause more serious conditions, such as cuff abscess, abdominal wall empyema, or septic arthritis. The DNA of P. bivia has been detected from human vaginal epithelia in 40% of healthy women. The prevalence is relatively higher in women with bacterial vaginosis (BV). Its detection from the glans penis indicates that it is a causative factor of BV in female sex partners. It is also probable, however, that traumatic events such as human bite might cause P. bivia infections leading to suppurative inguinal adenitis during orogenital sex. It is also a normal oral and vaginal flora as well as a predominant type of bacillus isolated from the respiratory tract infections and their complications, including aspiration pneumonia, lung abscess, chronic otitis media, chronic sinusitis, abscesses in the oral cavity, human bites, brain abscesses, and osteomyelitis. Moreover, P. bivia is the important pathogen in obstetric and gynecologic infections. There is a report suggesting that the concentrations of P. bivia and lipopolysaccharide in the vaginal fluid may contribute to the severity of BV and to the development of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, postpartum endometritis, and postoperative pelvic infection. References: 1. Riesbeck K. Paronychia due to Prevotella bivia that resulted in amputation: fast and correct bacteriological diagnosis is crucial. J Clin Microbiol 2003;41: 4901-3. [L] 2. Hsu GJ, Chen CR, Lai MC, Luh SP. Chest wall abscess due to Prevotella bivia. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B 2009;10: 233-6. [L] 3. Laiho K, Kotilainen P. Septic arthritis due to Prevotella bivia after intra-articular hip joint injection. Joint Bone Spine 2001;68: 443-4. [L] 4. Purushothaman B, Lakshmanan P, Gatehouse S, Fender D. Spondylodiscitis due to Prevotella associated with ovarian mass: a rare case report and review of literature. World Neurosurg 2010;73: 119-22. [L] 5. Salman SA, Baharoon SA. Septic arthritis of the knee joint secondary to Prevotella bivia. Saudi Med J 2009;30: 426-8. 6. Mirza A, Bove JJ, Litwa J, Appelbe G. Mixed Infections of the Paronychium with Prevotella bivia. J Hand Microsurg 2012;4: 77-80. 7. Srinivasan S, Fredricks DN. The human vaginal bacterial biota and bacterial vaginosis. Interdiscip Perspect Infect Dis 2008;2008: 750479. [L] 8. Price LB, Liu CM, Johnson KE, Aziz M, Lau MK, Bowers J, et al. The effects of circumcision on the penis microbiome. PLoS One 2010;5: e8422. [L] 9. Aroutcheva A, Ling Z, Faro S. Prevotella bivia as a source of lipopolysaccharide in the vagina. Anaerobe 2008;14: 256-60. [L] 10. Smayevsky J, Canigia LF, Lanza A, Bianchini H. Vaginal microflora associated with bacterial vaginosis in nonpregnant women: reliability of sialidase detection. Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol 2001;9: 17-22. [L] 11. Managing recurrent bacterial vaginosis, J Wilson [L]
a common bacterium often carried in the intestines or lower genital tract