Taking lactobacillus does not prevent vulvovaginitis

Lactobacillus preparations taken orally or vaginally during and for four days after antibiotics were not effective in preventing post-antibiotic vulvovaginitis. Pirotta and colleagues (p 548) randomised 273 women aged 18-50 who had started short term treatment with oral antibiotics for non-gynaecological infections giving them lactobacillus orally or vaginally, or both, or standard care in association with their antibiotic treatment. They found that, overall, 23% of the women developed post-antibiotic vulvovaginitis; compliance was high, but lactobacillus treatment was ineffective.