Pap Smear, Colposcopy And Biopsy Done. Results Showed Cervicitis. On Doxycycline. Could It Be STD?

Posted on Thu, 8 Nov 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 8 Nov 2012 Answered on

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I had an abnormal Pap smear followed by a colposcopy and biopsy. Results showed cervicitis, dr said it was caused by bacteria and prescribed doxycycline but never told me what bacteria caused it only said that sometimes we can have an overgrowth of it in our body. Now that I've read about this I'm wondering about an std. My question is, would my dr have been able to tell from the colposcopy and biopsy if an std was the cause?

Answered by Dr. Sree Gouri SR (50 minutes later)

Hi,
Thanks for the query.

Your doctor might have told about bacterial vaginosis.
Which occurs due to change in normal vaginal flora and due to over growth of bacteria like Gardenella vaginalis.
It is not an STD.
It can be caused by antibiotic usage, vaginal douching, intrauterine devices etc.
And presents with symptoms like vaginal discharge, sometimes associated fishy odor can be noticed.
By colposcopy and biopsy abnormal cells in the tissue can be recognized. By that we can differentiate between infective cause like cervicitis or neoplasia etc.
But to detect bacterial vaginosis:
-Pelvic examination.
-Microscopic examination of the vaginal discharge- which can detect clue cells.
-Whiff test etc. should be done.

Hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer your follow up queries. If you are satisfied with all my answer, please rate the answer after closing the discussion.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar