loading . . . <em>Communicable</em> episode 29: Bacterial vaginosis and male partners Bacterial vaginosis (BV) was long considered not to be a sexually transmitted infection, and treatment was only for women to bear. That was the convention at least until Catriona Bradshaw and her team at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre published their groundbreaking clinical trial results earlier this year, demonstrating that treating male partners of women with BV prevented recurrence in those women [1]. In this episode of Communicable, hosts Angela Huttner and Annie Joseph welcome back Bradshaw to discuss her trial’s design, results, and clinical implications—with some guidelines already updated to include male partners in BV treatment regimens [2,3]. The conversation also explores the complexities of BV diagnosis, the challenges of trial execution in general, and future research directions.This episode was edited by Kathryn Hostettler and peer reviewed by Arjana Zerja of Mother Theresa University Hospital Centre, Tirana, Albania. It was released on 16 June 2025.Declaration of competing interestThe authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.Related podcast episodes•Communicable episode 29: Bacterial vaginosis & male partners https://share.transistor.fm/s/3de4f5c3.•Communicable episode 19: ‘Super gonorrhoea’ & other sexually transmitted infections https://share.transistor.fm/s/c1f6f9ea; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmicom.2025.105090.Further reading•Auvert B, Taljaard D, Lagarde E, Sobngwi-Tambekou J, Sitta R, Puren A. Randomized, controlled intervention trial of male circumcision for reduction of HIV infection risk: The ANRS 1265 trial. PLoS Med. 2005;2:e298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020298.•Bailey RC, Moses S, Parker CB, Agot K, Maclean I, Krieger JN, et al. Male circumcision for HIV prevention in young men in Kisumu, Kenya: A randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2007;369:643–56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60312-2.•Bukusi E, Katherine KT, Rosemary N, Craig RC, Noel W, Robert C, et al. Topical penile microbicide use by men to prevent recurrent bacterial vaginosis in sex partners: A randomized clinical trial. Sex Transm Dis. 2011;38:483–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0b013e318214b82d.•Cohen CR, Wierzbicki MR, French AL, Morris S, Newmann S, Reno H, et al. Randomized trial of Lactin-V to prevent recurrence of bacterial vaginosis. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:1906–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1915254.•Gray RH, Kigozi G, Serwadda D, Makumbi F, Nalugoda F, Watya S, et al. The effects of male circumcision on female partners’ genital tract symptoms and vaginal infections in a randomized trial in Rakai, Uganda. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009;200:42.e1–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2008.07.069.•King AJ, Phillips TR, Plummer EL, Wild N, Fairley CK, Chow EPF, et al. Getting everyone on board to break the cycle of bacterial vaginosis (BV) recurrence: A qualitative study of partner treatment for BV. Patient. 2025;18:279–90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-025-00731-z.•Mehta S, Zhao D, Green SJ, Agingu W, Otieno F, Bhaumik R, et al. The microbiome composition of a man's penis predicts incident bacterial vaginosis in his female sex partner with high accuracy. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020;10:433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00433.•Muzny CA, Taylor CM, Swords WE, Tamhane A, Chattopadhyay D, Cerca N, et al. An updated conceptual model on the pathogenesis of bacterial vaginosis. J Infect Dis. 2019;220:1399–405. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz342.•Yockey LJ, Hussain FA, Bergerat A, Reissis A, Worrall D, Xu J, et al. Screening and characterization of vaginal fluid donations for vaginal microbiota transplantation. Sci Rep. 2022;12:17948. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22873-y.•Plummer EL, Vodstrcil LA, Doyle M, Danielewski JA, Murray GL, Fehler G, et al. A prospective, open-label pilot study of concurrent male partner treatment for bacterial vaginosis. mBio. 2021;12:e0232321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02323-21.•Plummer EL, Vodstrcil LA, Danielewski JA, Murray GL, Fairley CK, Garland SM, et al. Combined oral and topical antimicrobial therapy for male partners of women with bacterial vaginosis: Acceptability, tolerability and impact on the genital microbiota of couples - A pilot study. PLoS One. 2018;13:e0190199. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190199.•Vodstrcil LA, Muzny CA, Plummer EL, Sobel JD, Bradshaw CS. Bacterial vaginosis: Drivers of recurrence and challenges and opportunities in partner treatment. BMC Med. 2021;19:194. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-021-02077-3.•Wawer MJ, Makumbi F, Kigozi G, Serwadda D, Watya S, Nalugoda F, et al. Circumcision in HIV-infected men and its effect on HIV transmission to female partners in Rakai, Uganda: A randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2009;374:229–37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60998-3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950590925000654?dgcid=rss_sd_all
