Bacterial Vaginosis: What Black Women Need to Know

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal condition in women of reproductive age in the United States, affecting approximately 21 million women. BV has also been shown to disproportionately affect Black women. BlackDoctor.org sat down with Board-Certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist Kameelah Phillips, MD to discuss what BV is, how it differs from other vaginal infections, and its specific impact on Black women as well as the treatment options available to women living with this condition. What is bacterial vaginosis and how does it differ from other vaginal infections? Bacterial vaginosis is one of the most common infections of the reproductive age women. It is an overgrowth of bacteria in the vagina. Different things can offset the sort of delicate microbiome of the vagina. When that happens a certain group of bacteria get to overgrow and that’s bacterial vaginosis. In my practice, women come complaining of an increase in their vaginal discharge – that it might be a little more runny. The hallmark really is a complaint of a fishy odor or vulvar discharge and I find that often people get bacterial vaginosis confused with yeast infections. Can you describe the difference between...