Editorial Commentary: Sexual networks, sex hormones, and recurrent bacterial vaginosis: Not such strange bedfellows

摘要

In women of reproductive age, a vaginal environment that is quantitatively dominated by hydrogen peroxide-producing Lactobacillus species typically has a pH considered to be normal (<4.7) and has consistently been associated with healthy pregnancy outcomes, lack of abnormal vaginal symptoms, and reduced risk for acquiring several sexually transmitted pathogens, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).