Many women with bacterial vaginosis wonder if their partners need treatment too. A new analysis looked at 953 couples to answer this question. The study compared treating only the woman versus treating both the woman and her male partner. The main goal was to see if adding partner treatment stopped the infection from coming back.
The results were clear. Treating the male partner did not lower the rate of bacterial vaginosis returning. The data showed no significant difference between the two groups. Even when researchers removed one specific study from the mix, the finding remained the same. The effect was neutral in both scenarios.
The researchers noted some differences in how the studies were done, which they carefully checked. They also found no safety issues or side effects reported in the data. This means the combined approach is not harmful, but it does not prevent the infection from returning either.
This review suggests that treating the male partner alone is unlikely to help stop recurrence. Doctors may still use combined therapy to help cure the initial infection in women. However, preventing the problem from coming back requires more high-quality research to understand better.