Bacterial Vaginosis: What Increases Your Risk

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What Increases Your Risk

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Factors that increase your risk of getting bacterial vaginosis include:

Starting sexual activity at a young age.
Having multiple sex partners.
Having a female sex partner.⁵
Smoking.
Douching.

Although bacterial vaginosis can be triggered by or get worse from sexual activity, it does not appear to be an infection that is passed from man to woman. Therefore, experts do not consider bacterial vaginosis to be a male-female sexually transmitted disease. It is possible but not proven that bacterial vaginosis is passed from woman to woman during sexual contact.

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Last updated:	March 17, 2008
Author:	Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH - Infectious Disease
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC

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