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Note: This study is currently only recruiting patients in the hospital.

If you are interested in being notified if this study begins recruiting from the general population, please use the 'I Am Interested' button below.

Do you have bothersome vaginal discharge, or have you been diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis?

We are looking for people to participate in a study on bacterial vaginosis (BV). We will be following participants to see how bacteria in the vagina change after taking antibiotics, which is the standard treatment for BV.

6 months
Estimated Time Commitment
Female, Nonbinary, Gender-expansive, 18-55 years
May Be Eligible
Payment up to $400
May Be Offered
Survey, Office visit, Medication
May Be Required
 
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This project is not recruiting.

What we are studying

The goal of this study is to understand what happens to the bacteria in the vagina after taking antibiotics for bacterial vaginosis (BV), a common cause of vaginal discharge and odor. When a person has BV, the balance of bacteria in the vagina shifts from healthy to unhealthy. We will be studying whether and when those unhealthy bacteria go away after antibiotics, and whether and when the healthy bacteria come back.


Why it is important

Antibiotics are currently the only known treatment for BV. Though antibiotics are often helpful in treating BV at first, they do not do a good job of keeping BV from coming back. This can lead to people having chronic BV which is very bothersome and frustrating.


Also, BV is linked to pregnancy complications, infertility and other infections. Having BV can also mean that if you have human papillomavirus (HPV), your body has a harder time getting rid of HPV. Our long term goal is to develop a new treatment to prevent BV from coming back.


In this study we want to understand how quickly antibiotic treatment works, when it stops working, and when BV starts to return. This will help us figure out when is the best time to add a new treatment to prevent BV from coming back. 


What we hope to accomplish

Our hope is that by learning about how antibiotics affect the different types of bacteria in the vagina, we will be able to create new medications or treatments that can help treat BV and prevent it from coming back. By doing this, we can help lower pregnancy and sexual health risks for people currently living with chronic BV.

Principal Investigator

Caroline Mitchell, MD

Massachusetts General Hospital

Public Profile

People with bacterial vaginosis who are non-pregnant, premenopausal, assigned female at birth, have not had prior hysterectomy, and age 18 to 55.

Participants who agree to be in the study will either be presribed antibiotics by the study's doctor or given a prescription from their own doctor. These are the same antibiotics often prescribed for BV and participants will take them normally.


Participants will come back for visits once a week during the first month, and then for three other visits at 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months.


During the visits, participants will be asked to take a swab of their vagina and use a disposable menstrual cup to collect vaginal fluids. Participants will then be given a pelvic exam to take a swab of the cervix by the study's doctor (similar to a Pap smear). 


Participants will be asked to fill out a brief survey at each visit that will ask questions about lifestyle and health history.


Project activities may include:

  • Survey
  • Office visit
  • Medication

Estimated Time Commitment

6 months


Participants will receive up to $400 for completing all of the study visits. If you do not complete the whole study, you will get $50 for each visit you complete.

Massachusetts General Hospital
55 Fruit St.

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Travel

  • Accessible by public transportation
  • Parking reimbursed
  • Local travel reimbursed

Travel and Parking Details

All study visits will take place at the main hospital located at: 55 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114.


Either parking vouchers or transporation reimbursements will be provided for all study visits.


Participants will need to live within driving distance to the hospital.


Participating Institutions


Funding Source

  • Foundation
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