1. Association between vaginal washing and vaginal bacterial concentrations.
- Author
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Michelle C Sabo, Jennifer E Balkus, Barbra A Richardson, Sujatha Srinivasan, Joshua Kimani, Omu Anzala, Jane Schwebke, Tina L Feidler, David N Fredricks, and R Scott McClelland
- Subjects
Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Vaginal washing is a common practice associated with adverse outcomes including bacterial vaginosis (BV) and HIV infection. Prior studies have not examined the associations between vaginal washing and individual vaginal bacteria, or whether these associations are independent of the effect of vaginal washing on BV. The purpose of this study was to characterize the association between vaginal washing and the presence and concentrations of vaginal bacteria associated with optimal and sub-optimal vaginal states. The analysis utilized data from participants in the placebo arm of the Preventing Vaginal Infections trial, which enrolled HIV-uninfected women from the United States and Kenya. Detection of bacterial taxa associated with BV was compared between visits with versus without reported vaginal washing. The effect of vaginal washing on a number of vaginal bacteria differed substantially (p
- Published
- 2019
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