Serious Effects of Bacterial Vaginosis

In most cases, bacterial vaginosis doesn't cause any problems. But, there can be some serious risks when a woman has bacterial vaginosis:

• Pregnant women with bacterial vaginosis more often have babies who are born early or with low birth weight.

• The bacteria that cause bacterial vaginosis can sometimes cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), an infection of a woman's uterus (womb) and fallopian tubes (tubes that carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus). PID can cause infertility (not being able to get pregnant). It can also increase a woman's risk for ectopic pregnancy (when a pregnancy occurs outside the uterus), which can be life threatening.

• Having bacterial vaginosis can make a woman more at risk for getting infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

• If a woman has HIV and bacterial vaginosis, she is more likely to pass HIV to her sex partner.

• Bacterial vaginosis can increase a woman's chances of getting other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.