A vaccine once morest the type of bacteria that causes UTIs has been developed by a team of researchers at Duke University in North Carolina.
In their article published in the journal Science Advances, the group of scientists revealed the promising performance of their vaccine, currently tested on mice and rabbits.
Researchers have found it to be as effective as traditional antibiotics. In addition, its repeated use would not cause gastrointestinal problems, which is the case with antibiotics.
If the vaccine proves effective in humans, it would dramatically reduce the number of antibiotics used to treat disease in general, slowing the progression of bacterial resistance to available antibiotics.
Urinary tract infections are a major public health problem affecting millions of people each year. They are more common in women and can cause severe pain and complications.
These infections are usually treated with antibiotics, but unfortunately some women develop chronic infections, which means they suffer from UTIs several times a year.
This prototype vaccine would provide long-term protection once morest uropathogenic Escherichia coli, the bacteria responsible for 80% of urinary tract infections.
