Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genitourinary Medicine logoLink to Genitourinary Medicine
. 1997 Aug;73(4):267–270. doi: 10.1136/sti.73.4.267

Treatment of male partners and recurrence of bacterial vaginosis: a randomised trial.

E Colli 1, M Landoni 1, F Parazzini 1
PMCID: PMC1195855  PMID: 9389947

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To test the efficacy of treatment with clindamycin of a partner on the recurrence rate of bacterial vaginosis in women within 3 months from diagnosis. SUBJECTS: Eligible for the study were sexually active women with one current sexual partner, who were aged 18-45 years, with a clinical diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis and whose partner agreed to be treated. METHODS: A double blind, randomised, controlled trial was conducted comparing the effect of treating the partner with either clindamycin capsules or placebo on the reduction of the recurrence rate of bacterial vaginosis. Women were treated with clindamycin 2% vaginal cream, administered intravaginally once daily at bedtime for 7 consecutive days. The partners were randomly allocated to clindamycin hydrochloride capsules, 150 g by mouth four times daily for 7 consecutive days, or a placebo. A total of 139 couples were randomised--69 were treated with clindamycin vaginal cream group and 70 with placebo. One, 4, and 12 weeks after the end of treatment the patients and their partners were examined; vaginal discharges were examined to check for clue cells, vaginal pH was determined, and a KOH test carried out. RESULTS: Overall, 131 women out of the 139 who entered the study were cured (94.2%, lower 95% confidence interval 79.8, based on Poisson's approximation). There was no difference in the cure rate among women whose partner received clindamycin or placebo (chi(2) p = not significant). A total of 55 couples (26 in the clindamycin and 29 in the placebo group) withdrew from the study during the follow up period. Of the 69 women whose partner received clindamycin, 22 (31.9%) reported "recurrence" or persistence. The corresponding number was 21 (30%) of the 70 women whose partner received placebo (chi(2) p = not significant). Of the 84 couples in which the woman was cured by the first week's visit and who completed the study; there were five recurrences (11.6%) among the 43 women whose partner received clindamycin and nine (22.0%) of the 41 whose partner received placebo (chi(2) p = not significant). CONCLUSION: This study indicates that vaginal clindamycin is effective and safe in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis, but it does not support the suggestion that male treatment markedly reduces the short term recurrence rate.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amsel R., Totten P. A., Spiegel C. A., Chen K. C., Eschenbach D., Holmes K. K. Nonspecific vaginitis. Diagnostic criteria and microbial and epidemiologic associations. Am J Med. 1983 Jan;74(1):14–22. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(83)91112-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Andres F. J., Parker R., Hosein I., Benrubi G. I. Clindamycin vaginal cream versus oral metronidazole in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis: a prospective double-blind clinical trial. South Med J. 1992 Nov;85(11):1077–1080. doi: 10.1097/00007611-199211000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fischbach F., Petersen E. E., Weissenbacher E. R., Martius J., Hosmann J., Mayer H. Efficacy of clindamycin vaginal cream versus oral metronidazole in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis. Obstet Gynecol. 1993 Sep;82(3):405–410. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GARDNER H. L., DUKES C. D. Haemophilus vaginalis vaginitis: a newly defined specific infection previously classified non-specific vaginitis. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1955 May;69(5):962–976. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Greaves W. L., Chungafung J., Morris B., Haile A., Townsend J. L. Clindamycin versus metronidazole in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis. Obstet Gynecol. 1988 Nov;72(5):799–802. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Handsfield H. H. Problems in the treatment of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases. Sex Transm Dis. 1986 Jul-Sep;13(3 Suppl):179–184. doi: 10.1097/00007435-198607000-00017. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hillier S., Krohn M. A., Watts D. H., Wolner-Hanssen P., Eschenbach D. Microbiologic efficacy of intravaginal clindamycin cream for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis. Obstet Gynecol. 1990 Sep;76(3 Pt 1):407–413. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Livengood C. H., 3rd, Thomason J. L., Hill G. B. Bacterial vaginosis: treatment with topical intravaginal clindamycin phosphate. Obstet Gynecol. 1990 Jul;76(1):118–123. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lugo-Miro V. I., Green M., Mazur L. Comparison of different metronidazole therapeutic regimens for bacterial vaginosis. A meta-analysis. JAMA. 1992 Jul 1;268(1):92–95. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mead P. B. Epidemiology of bacterial vaginosis. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1993 Aug;169(2 Pt 2):446–449. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(93)90338-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mengel M. B., Berg A. O., Weaver C. H., Herman D. J., Herman S. J., Hughes V. L., Koepsell T. D. The effectiveness of single-dose metronidazole therapy for patients and their partners with bacterial vaginosis. J Fam Pract. 1989 Feb;28(2):163–171. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Moi H., Erkkola R., Jerve F., Nelleman G., Bymose B., Alaksen K., Tornqvist E. Should male consorts of women with bacterial vaginosis be treated? Genitourin Med. 1989 Aug;65(4):263–268. doi: 10.1136/sti.65.4.263. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pheifer T. A., Forsyth P. S., Durfee M. A., Pollock H. M., Holmes K. K. Nonspecific vaginitis: role of Haemophilus vaginalis and treatment with metronidazole. N Engl J Med. 1978 Jun 29;298(26):1429–1434. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197806292982601. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schmitt C., Sobel J. D., Meriwether C. Bacterial vaginosis: treatment with clindamycin cream versus oral metronidazole. Obstet Gynecol. 1992 Jun;79(6):1020–1023. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Swedberg J., Steiner J. F., Deiss F., Steiner S., Driggers D. A. Comparison of single-dose vs one-week course of metronidazole for symptomatic bacterial vaginosis. JAMA. 1985 Aug 23;254(8):1046–1049. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Vejtorp M., Bollerup A. C., Vejtorp L., Fanøe E., Nathan E., Reiter A., Andersen M. E., Strømsholt B., Schrøder S. S. Bacterial vaginosis: a double-blind randomized trial of the effect of treatment of the sexual partner. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1988 Sep;95(9):920–926. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1988.tb06581.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Vutyavanich T., Pongsuthirak P., Vannareumol P., Ruangsri R. A., Luangsook P. A randomized double-blind trial of tinidazole treatment of the sexual partners of females with bacterial vaginosis. Obstet Gynecol. 1993 Oct;82(4 Pt 1):550–554. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genitourinary Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES