A vaccine to protect against meningitis B also reduces the risk of contracting gonorrhea. This is the first time that a vaccine track has delivered good results.
It is better known by its popular names: hot piss, gonorrhea, tickle. Beyond words, gonorrhea is a real scourge in the world. Each year, 78 million cases are diagnosed worldwide. Only one means of avoiding contagion exists, the condom. So far, no vaccine has been able to prevent infection.
The University of Auckland (New Zealand) brings hope in this area. She observes, in the Lancet, that a vaccine against meningitis B also reduces the risk of contracting gonorrhea. The study, partly funded by the GSK laboratory and by the university, reports a slightly reduced risk.
A third less risk
This study draws lessons from an epidemic of meningitis B, which occurred in New Zealand in the 2000s. Faced with the growing number of cases, the authorities launched a vaccination campaign. 81% of young people in the country have been vaccinated against the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. At the same time, researchers have seen a drop in gonorrhea cases.
Declines of the same type have been observed in Cuba, and in Norway, each time after vaccination campaigns against meningococcal type B. It was still necessary to objectify the phenomenon.
The New Zealanders therefore combed through the archipelago’s vaccination register, covering the period from 2004 to 2008. The data was cross-checked with the diagnoses of gonorrhea and chlamydia in 14,000 young people, infected between 2004 and 2016.
The results are clear: being vaccinated against meningitis B slightly protects against gonorrhea. Compared to those who did not receive the vaccine, the risk is reduced by 31%.
Similar bacteria
How does a vaccine intended to protect against inflammation of the meninges protect against a sexually transmitted infection? The answer lies in the profile of the bacteria responsible for it. In gonorrhea like meningitis, the family of Neisseria is involved.
In fact, the two bacteria share 80-90% of their DNA. “Most of the virulence factors of one species have an equivalent in the other”, add the authors of the study. However, the vaccine used against meningitis B does not contain the whole bacterium, but only part of the proteins that make up its membrane.
Similarities can therefore emerge with the Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This will need to be confirmed by further clinical trials. But the enthusiasm is all the stronger as the World Health Organization (WHO) recently echoed darker news.
Cases without symptoms
Some strains of gonococci are able to resist several classes of antibiotics, making treatment more difficult. In the light of this information, the development of preventive approaches seems more necessary than ever.
“It is imperative to re-evaluate the possibility of vaccinating and to revive research in this field”, confirms Kate Seib, of Griffith University (Australia), in a remark associated with the study.
Reinforcing prevention is all the more relevant as most contaminations are not accompanied by the usual signs. “Asymptomatic infections concern 50 to 80% of women and 1 to 40% of men”, figures Kate Seib. And in the absence of treatment, gonorrhea can cause severe complications: chronic inflammation, infertility and neonatal complications.
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