Symptoms

About half of women with bacterial vaginosis have no telltale symptoms.² Bacterial vaginosis does not typically cause itching. But it does cause:

• An excessive grayish white vaginal discharge, unlike normal vaginal discharge (1 in 3 women with bacterial vaginosis describe the discharge as yellow).³
• A bothersome "fishy" odor, which is usually worse after sex (intercourse).

Other conditions with similar symptoms include some sexually transmitted diseases (especially trichomoniasis), urinary tract infection, and vaginal yeast infection.