In recent years it’s become trendy for women to refer to their private part as a she-shed, although for most there’s no way you’re keeping a lawnmower in there between grass mowings. It’s just an expression, but on a more serious note bacteria are always present in this part of a woman’s body and the right ones in the right quantity are never a problem. With bacterial vaginosis there are too many of certain ones and they are a problem. We’ll talk more about the condition, but our primary focus here is does BV turn into HIV. 

Considering that HIV is a viral infection it wouldn’t seem to make sense that an excess of bacteria would promote the development of a viral infection. Then there’s the fact that HIV is acquired through exposure to contaminated blood or bodily fluids, and having bacterial vaginosis does not mean either of these exposures will be happening. So, there’s not much sense in asking can BV turn into HIV, because there’s really no legit physiological explanation for it.  

A woman may have a she-shed that is the equivalent of a petri dish gone haywire and that won’t mean she’s any more at risk of getting the immunodeficiency virus that is the precursor to having AIDS. Most women are good about hygiene in that regard and would never allow the situation to progress to that point in the first place. But even for those who aren’t fond of douching or other approaches there isn’t any risk of does BV turn into HIV. You’ll need to take an antibiotic for bacterial vaginosis treatment, but that’s the extent of it. 

Be Choosy  

So, we’ve determined that it’s a no for does BV turn into HIV, and that’s you’re not going to develop it just because you’ve got bacterial vaginosis. But the reason people ask this question as often as they do is because there is a connection between BV and contracting STIs (sexually transmitted infections) more easily. HIV is an STI, and so this is why some women may have the concern. It’s good to know how a bacterial infection works.  

But concerns tend to go out the window after downing two bottles of Chardonnay in under 90 minutes, and it’s understandable in such instances that a woman wants to have sex. There’s no connection here between does BV turn into HIV, but the important takeaway as it relates to the higher risk of HIV is for women to be choosy about who they have sex with. It’s also a known fact that women who have sex with other women are more likely to get bacterial vaginosis, and you can take the significance of that however you like.  

But the vaginal discharge that a woman experiences with BV isn’t going to make it any more likely that she gets HIV from an infected partner. Whereas unprotected sex with that individual is going to have her at the highest level of risk.