The age-old question. Is BV an STI??

In short, no. As of 2025, the CDC does not consider BV to fall under the guidelines of an STI. However, there’s a longer explanation behind this.

Bacterial Vaginosis is an imbalance of “good” and “bad” bacteria. The most typical strain of bacteria to cause the infection is Gardnerella Vaginalis and it lives in both a vaginal and penile biome naturally. A healthy biome just has a small enough quantity of it that the infection does not occur (until that “good” bacteria depletes and that “bad” bacteria thrive).

The main reason it is not considered an STI is that you don’t need to be sexually active for the infection to occur. People who are abstinent and not engaging in any sexual activity have been seen to still get BV infections. Sexual activity does increase chances as you are allowing foreign bacteria into your body; however, in a healthy biome, it should not cause an infection.