Soon a vaccine against urinary tract infections?

Half of women suffer from a urinary tract infection at least once in their life. Caused by bacteria that infect the urethra, it is characterized by burning during urination, which has become difficult, and frequent urges to urinate. Drinking water allows you to urinate more and prevent bacteria from going up to the kidneys. If symptoms persist, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics. What if it was now possible to protect yourself from urinary tract infections? A research team from Duke University Medical Center in the United States has developed a vaccine. They present the results of their work in a communicated.

Heal and protect yourself from urinary tract infections

“There is currently no effective vaccine against UTIs available in the United States, despite the high prevalence of these infections.explains Soman Abraham, lead author of the research. Our study attests to the potential of a very effective vaccine which makes it possible both to eradicate the residual bacteria present in the urethra, but also to prevent infections.“Other clinical trials have previously tested the effectiveness of solutions intended for vaccination, but none of them have shown satisfactory results. For the time being, the trial carried out by Soman Abraham relates only to mice The vaccine was administered directly to them in the urethra. According to Jianxuan Wu, co-author of the research, this mode of injection improved the effectiveness of the product. The results were “better than with conventional intramuscular vaccination“.

Immune system dysfunction

The vaccine enabled the rodents’ immune systems to effectively fight the bacteria Escherichia coli, responsible for the infection. The development of the product started from an observation: a urinary tract infection generates an inadequate response from the immune system. American scientists noticed that when the bacterium E. Coli infects mice, their immune system sends cells to repair damaged tissue, and only a small amount of the remaining cells are dedicated to fighting the bacteria. “This prevents the total disappearance of the bacteriasay the researchers, it stays in the urethra and can then attack again“The vaccine developed allows to direct the immune system, and eliminate these bacteria entirely. Studies will have to be carried out on humans before the product is available.”As individual vaccine compounds have already been deemed safe for use in humans, clinical studies to validate these findings could be completed relatively quickly.“, emphasizes Soman Abraham.