Identifying microbial threshold levels necessary for the development and persistence of BV using an integrated set of clinical, laboratory and modeling experiments.

This is a prospective observational study focusing on the kinetic behavior of the vaginal microbiota to further understand the onset of bacterial vaginosis (BV). 20 women with a history of BV self-collected vaginal swabs three times daily over 60 days. All samples were measured using targeted qPCR. The morning samples of 18 women and all samples from two women were additionally measured by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (NGS). Women also provided daily study diary with information on: menses, sexual activity, symptoms of BV, antibiotics and any other relevant medical events.