The icon of Australia could become a medical star. Indeed, the koala which had already shown its effectiveness in the fight against one of the most dangerous sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, would appear to be effective in making a vaccine against chlamydia, a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
After 7 years of work, researchers at QUT, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation in Brisbane, Australia have successfully implemented a vaccine against chlamydia for koalas, an animal severely affected by this STI. “Between 40 and 70% of koalas have chlamydia somewhere in their body,” explains Professor Ken Beagley, from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation at QUT to the British daily “Telegraph”, relayed by the site 20 Minutes . “We recently found that many males are infected with chlamydia. This can be isolated from many parts of the male reproductive system, including the testes where semen is produced,” says Professor Ken Beagley. “But, we made a vaccine and we think it’s effective. We have tested koalas in captivity and they appear to be immune to transmission from wild populations, ”continues Ken Beagley.
“Based on these findings, we are trying to develop methods to process both the animal and the semen before natural mating,” says colleague Stephen Johnston. They hope that these discoveries will eventually lead them to a vaccine for humans.
A very common STI
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacteria Chlamydia. It is the most common STI in people under 25. It affects both men and women and can cause a number of complications. Unfortunately, this disease is often asymptomatic, which delays diagnosis. It is estimated that 50% of female infertility is due to chlamydia that was not treated in time, while a simple antibiotic treatment of less than a week is sufficient. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent this infection. It affects more than 100 million people around the world each year.
Read also:
STI: soon an anti-chlamydia vaccine?
Chlamydial infections: the importance of screening
Sexo: what if you had an infection and didn’t know it?
