New guidelines for bacterial vaginosis diagnosis and treatment - Contemporary Obgyn
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated their diagnosis and treatment guidelines for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The updated guidelines included new information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in pregnant and nonpregnant women. 1 Diagnostic Considerations According to the CDC, BV can be diagnosed via Amsel's diagnostic criteria or by determining the Nugent score from a vaginal Gram stain. Vaginal Gram stain is the reference standard method for BV diagnosis. It is used to determine the relative concentration of lactobacilli, small gram-negative and gram-variable rods (i.e., G. vaginalis or Bateroides ), and curved gram-negative rods (i.e., Mobiluncus ) characteristic of BV. 1 Point-of-care tests and nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) may also be used for BV diagnosis. A Nugent score of 0-3 is consistent with a Lactobacillus- predominant vaginal microbiota, 4-6 with intermediate microbiota (emergence