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Biotherapeutic Agents as Therapy for Vaginitis

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Biotherapeutic Agents and Infectious Diseases

Abstract

For centuries, prior to the availability of modern antimicrobial agents, symptomatic vaginitis had been treated by a variety of home remedies. Included in this armamentarium has been crude preparations of microorganisms specifically given for the treatment of yeast or Candida vaginitis. The self-limiting nature of several forms of infectious vaginitis, together with the fact that most women with vaginal symptoms do not have infectious vaginitis per se, resulted in the acceptance of these “traditional” measures in the management of women with vaginal symptoms. Thus, before the Second World War, prior to the availability of systemic antimicrobial agents, an entire chemical arsenal had developed that was reasonably effective in different vaginal syndromes. Topical gentian violet and boric acid are a few of the chemical treatments that were reasonably effective in treating Candida vaginitis.

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  1. J. D. Sobel
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Gary W. Elmer  & Lynne V. McFarland  & 

  2. Biocodex Inc., Seattle, WA, USA

    Lynne V. McFarland

  3. Department of Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Christina M. Surawicz

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Sobel, J.D. (1999). Biotherapeutic Agents as Therapy for Vaginitis. In: Elmer, G.W., McFarland, L.V., Surawicz, C.M. (eds) Biotherapeutic Agents and Infectious Diseases. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-711-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-711-6_10

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

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