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Book

Gardnerella Vaginalis

Norah Kairys  1 , Karen Carlson  2 , Manish Garg  1
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
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Book

Gardnerella Vaginalis

Norah Kairys et al.
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Excerpt

Gardnerella vaginalis is a predominant anaerobic bacterium that is a natural component of the normal vaginal flora. Gardnerella was named after Hermann L. Gardner, the scientist who discovered the bacterium in 1955. Normally, the Lactobacillus species predominates the vaginal flora. However, when organisms such as Gardnerella overgrow and assume dominance, this imbalance results in bacterial vaginosis (BV).

BV is a condition that causes abnormal vaginal discharge and involves a polymicrobial overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria within the vaginal environment. BV is associated with infertility, preterm birth, postpartum endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and an increased risk of acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Norah Kairys declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Karen Carlson declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Manish Garg declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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    1. Castro J, Jefferson KK, Cerca N. Genetic Heterogeneity and Taxonomic Diversity among Gardnerella Species. Trends Microbiol. 2020 Mar;28(3):202-211. - PubMed
    1. Coudray MS, Madhivanan P. Bacterial vaginosis-A brief synopsis of the literature. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2020 Feb;245:143-148. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schwebke JR, Muzny CA, Josey WE. Role of Gardnerella vaginalis in the pathogenesis of bacterial vaginosis: a conceptual model. J Infect Dis. 2014 Aug 01;210(3):338-43. - PubMed
    1. Abou Chacra L, Fenollar F, Diop K. Bacterial Vaginosis: What Do We Currently Know? Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021;11:672429. - PMC - PubMed

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