For decades, bacterial vaginosis has been treated as a women’s health issue—but new research suggests treating male partners could dramatically cut recurrence rates.

Health experts say an Australian study linking sexual activity to an infection that 1 in 3 U.S. women contract has provided a new tool to prevent recurrences, as well as find a cure.

Women experience fewer repeat infections with bacterial vaginosis when both they and their male sex partners receive antibiotics.

We’ve suspected for a long time that it’s a sexually transmitted infection (STI), because it has a similar incubation period (after sex) to most STIs and is associated with