DQC: New Hope for Vaginosis

Dr. Chapa’s Clinical Pearls.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is known as a normal vaginal microbiota resulting in low lactobacilli; it affects one-quarter to one-third of reproductive-age women. The BV treatment landscape has not appreciably changed in decades: in the US, metronidazole and clindamycin are recommended as first-line treatments for symptomatic BV, and secnidazole and tinidazole are used as alternatives. Although these treatments are effective in the short term, up to 60% of women experience BV recurrence within 1 year of treatment. Some have more frequent recurrences. Suppressive vaginal metronidazole fails for 25% of patients and leads to secondary vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in up to 40%, and many patients have BV recurrence after stopping suppressive therapy. But now a “new” therapeutic option has been in print and is attracting a lot of attention. DQC has been available in other parts of the world for decades, and recently published results from a new European clinical investigation (May 2024) adds more reassuring date. This has led many in the United States to call for trials in this country to begin FDA approval. Listen in for details.