Surprising Benefits of Sex Slideshow Pictures Take the Yeast Infection Quiz What's Causing Your Pelvic Pain Slideshow

Medical Author:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Medical Editor:

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.

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Vaginal Infection Prognosis

If diagnosed and treated correctly, all forms of vaginitis usually respond well to therapy. Your symptoms will clear up and go away. If your symptoms won't go away or the symptoms come back, you must be reevaluated by your health care provider.

• Bacterial vaginosis is associated with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can cause infertility and tubal (ectopic) pregnancy. Bacterial vaginosis also can cause problems with pregnancy such as premature delivery and low-birth-weight infants. Your health care provider will be monitoring your condition closely if you are pregnant and have had a premature baby before. Bacterial vaginosis may also put you at increased risk of gonorrhea and HIV infection.
  
  
• Trichomoniasis is associated with increased risk of transmission of HIV and may cause a woman to deliver a low-birth-weight or premature infant.