A chlamydia vaccine may be nearer after Canadian scientists developed a prototype that has defeated the infection in mice, reported
USA Today.
Chlamydia is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014, the CDC said 1,368.3 men per 100,000 population ages 20-24 suffered from chlamydia, while 1,641.1 women per 100,000 population the same age were reported contracting chlamydia.
A team from Ontario's McMaster University administered two doses of the vaccine to mice and then exposed them to chlamydia, said USA Today. The mice given the vaccine showed fewer signs of reproductive organ damage and bacteria copies in their systems.
McMaster's study published in the journal Vaccine showed that "a novel chlamydial antigen known as BD584" could possibly be used as a potential vaccine for the most common species of chlamydia known as Chlamydia trachomatis.
USA Today said if the infection, which has no symptoms in most people, is left untreated it could prevent women from getting pregnant or cause pregnancy complications. McMaster said chlamydia affects 113 million people around the world.
"Vaccine development efforts in the past three decades have been unproductive and there is no vaccine approved for use in humans," said David Bulir, coauthor of the study.
"Vaccination would be the best way to way to prevent a chlamydia infection, and this study has identified important new antigens which could be used as part of a vaccine to prevent or eliminate the damaging reproductive consequences of untreated infections."
Another coauthor, Steven Liang, said the vaccine also has potential to be used as protection against all C. trachomatis strains, including those that cause trachoma, an eye infection caused by chlamydia.
"The vaccine would be administered through the nose," Liang said. "This is easy and painless and does not require highly trained health professionals to administer, and that makes it an inexpensive solution for developing nations."
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