Recurrent bacterial vaginosis - a female perspective

By Dr Jodie Abramovitch

Dr Jade Bilardi - first author of the BV study

The most common vaginal infection of women of reproductive age is bacterial vaginosis (BV). BV is characterised by an imbalance of natural vaginal bacteria species leading to symptoms such as abnormal odour and discharge. It has more seriously been associated with an increased incidence of miscarriage, premature birth, HIV and a higher risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection.

The cause of BV and the way it is transmitted from person to person are not well understood. However, there is increasing evidence BV may be sexually transmitted. Current treatment and patient management is suboptimal, leading to a high recurrence rate among affected women.

Odd spot: Ten Simple Rules to Win a Nobel Prize

Richard J. Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,  writes, "It is remarkable how many students, young faculty, and even senior faculty hanker after a Nobel Prize. Somehow, they think that it is possible to structure their scientific careers so that the culmination will bring this much sought-after honor. Some even think that as a Nobel laureate myself, I may have the key to success—some secrets that I can share and so greatly improve their odds of success. Unfortunately, I must begin by disappointing everyone. There is only one path that should be followed. It is summed up in Rule 1, but some of the other Rules may prove helpful—or if not helpful, then at least amusing."

Reference: journals.plos.org/ploscollections/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004084

Recent Central Clinical School publications

Cashin K, Gray LR, Jakobsen MR, Sterjovski J, Churchill MJ, Gorry PR (2013). CoRSeqV3-C: A novel HIV-1 subtype C specific V3 sequence based coreceptor specificity prediction algorithm. Retrovirology, 2013.