• bacterial vaginosis
• sexually transmitted infections

Editor,—I have a concern about a reference used in the article “Is bacterial vaginosis a sexually transmitted infection?” in the February issue of STI.¹

I have a particular interest in BV, especially in the potential for BV to be sexually transmitted between women. In the recent article the authors stated that:

“… past studies focusing on concordant BV infections within lesbian couples have failed to produce consistent results.”

To this statement there were two references. One supported concordant BV results in lesbian couples,² but the second reference referred to an article about treating urethritis in men in developing countries.³ It is no wonder they didn't find any evidence of BV transmission between women!

Previous studies have consistently demonstrated higher rates of BV in women who have sex with women.^{1, 4–6} Further studies are needed to better understand the transmission dynamics of bacterial vaginosis between women.