RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Life in the littoral zone: lactobacilli losing the plot JF Sexually Transmitted Infections JO Sex Transm Infect FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP 100 OP 102 DO 10.1136/sti.2003.007161 VO 81 IS 2 A1 P Hay YR 2005 UL http://sti.bmj.com/content/81/2/100.abstract AB Recurrent bacterial vaginosis is a challenge for those affected by it, and their physicians. Our inability to prevent relapse after treatment, may be because of the flawed approach of using antibiotics to treat a condition that is an imbalance rather than an infection. The maintenance of a healthy lactobacillus population offers an approach to preventing relapse: the problem is how best to do this. Physiological approaches such as the use of hydrogen peroxide, lactic acid, and exogenous lactobacilli need to be explored further. The role of bacterial vaginosis as a risk factor for acquisition of HIV and other STIs is a further impetus to attempting to prevent bacterial vaginosis from recurring.