[Gardnerella vaginalis infection--another sexually transmitted disease]

The Gardnerella vaginalis infection of the urogenital tract, an STD, is of clinical importance in females and of epidemiological importance in males. Females suffer from vulvovaginitis amine colpitis, with a bad-smelling grey vaginal discharge with a pH of 5.0-5.5, which contains "clue cells". The urethra of males is often asymptomatically infected. The identification of G. vaginalis is time-consuming and requires a lot of material. Isolation and identification of G. vaginalis can not yet be made in the routine examination of outpatients suffering from urogenital tract infections. If the diagnosis is based on signs such as bad-smelling grey discharge containing "clue cells", and the increase in pH about 20% false-positive and 20% false-negative results will be obtained. If G. vaginalis is isolated, simultaneous infections with further agents such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae etc., Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida species and HSV 2 should be excluded. Metronidazole (1 g/day for 5 days) is the drug of first choice in G. vaginalis infection.