The vaccine against meningococcus B, the bacteria responsible for meningitis, would be effective in reducing the risk of gonorrhea infection, according to results of a study published in the journal The Lancet. It is a new therapeutic avenue for the development of a vaccine against gonorrhea, and the culmination of more than a century of research to treat 78 million people affected by this disease. STI every year.
Gonorrhea, also called gonorrhea, is a sexually transmitted infection that can affect the genitals, rectum, and throat. It is spread during unprotected oral, anal or vaginal sex. the July 7, 2017, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm and reminded that gonorrhea was increasingly difficult to cure. “The bacteria responsible for gonorrhea are particularly intelligent. Indeed, each time we use a new class ofantibiotics to treat infection, the bacteria evolve to resist it, “said Dr Teodora Wi, doctor in the Reproductive Health Department at the WHO.
The effective meningococcal B vaccine
Researchers at the University of Auckand in New Zealand conducted a study following a large meningococcal B vaccination campaign carried out between 2004 and 2006, on one million people.
Scientists studied the medical data of 14,000 people and found that having been vaccinated against meningococcus B reduced the number of cases of gonorrhea by 31%.
This is because the two bacteria, Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, display genetic similarities, even though the diseases they cause are very different.
“This is the first time that we have observed protection against gonorrhea with a vaccine (although) the mechanism of this immune response is currently unknown,” commented one of the study’s authors, Dr Helen Petousis-Harris, University of Auckland. “If so, giving them in adolescence could lower the number of cases of gonorrhea,” said study co-author Professor Steven Black of the Children’s Hospital. from Cincinnati (United States).
Read also:
Gonorrhea: a sexually transmitted infection that is increasingly difficult to treat
STIs: watch out for antibiotic resistance
STIs: what are the risks of transmission according to sexual practices?
Sexo: how to make sex with a condom pleasant?
