Gardnerella infection is another example of an overgrowth of "healthy" organisms. Gardnerella vaginalis is a bacterium which is found to comprise up to 30% of the normal population of bacteria in a healthy vagina. In overgrowth, this bacterium causes the discharge to become more watery, and to have a characteristic fishy smell. This condition has been termed bacterial vaginosis (BV). There is usually no discomfort in BV. It has recently been reported that pregnant women with BV are more likely to go into premature labour. This has led to a debate over whether women with BV should be treated early in labour with antibiotics.
Treatment of BV is with a single dose of the antibiotic metronidazole (Flagyl®).
