Treating male partners of women with bacterial vaginosis led to a lower rate of recurrence, according to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers used a combination of oral and topical antimicrobial therapy for the male partners of women with bacterial vaginosis who were in a monogamous relationship. Women received first-line antimicrobial agents and men were give metronidazole 400-mg tablets and 2% clindamycin cream applied to penile skin, both twice daily for 7 days. The authors noted that previous trials for male treatment relied only on oral therapy.
There were 81 couples assigned to the partner-treatment group and 83 to the control group. Recurrence occurred in 34% of the women in the partner-treatment group and in 63% of the control group. The trial was stopped after 150 couples completed the 12-week follow-up period because the data and safety monitoring board determined the women-only treatment was inferior, the authors said.
“In this multicenter, randomized trial, the addition of oral and topical antimicrobial therapy for male partners, at the time that their female partner was treated for bacterial vaginosis, resulted in a significantly lower recurrence rate over a period of 12 weeks than the recommended practice of treating women only,” they wrote.