A vaccine for the most common sexually transmitted infection has passed an early test on the path to public availability.
Health researchers in the UK have developed a potential vaccine for chlamydia, an STI caused by Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria, which is responsible for more than a hundred million new cases globally each year, according to estimates.
In a recent clinical trial, researchers from Imperial College London compared the effects of two vaccine formulations and one placebo among a group of 35 female participants, none of whom had chlamydia.
While both formulations seemed safe, one appeared more successful at producing antibodies needed to fight off the bacterial infection, and researchers now hope to move forward with its further testing.
According to the nonprofit American Sexual Health Association (ASHA), chlamydia bacteria is responsible for at least 1.5 million new US infections every year, though unreported cases would likely push that number much higher.
The highest rates of infection occur among teens and young adults, and while many patients might not notice signs of chlamydia, it can lead to serious complications if not treated with antibiotics.
See also: Veterans Affairs OKs 'Ketamine-Like' Drug Despite Cost, Doctors' Misgivings: Reports
The potential vaccine is still in the early stages, but if all goes well with testing in the next few years, a chlamydia vaccine could be available in as few as five years, according to Professor Robin Shattock, Head of Mucosal Infection and Immunity at Imperial College's Department of Infectious Disease, and the study's co-author.
"The findings are encouraging as they show the vaccine is safe and produces the type of immune response that could potentially protect against chlamydia," Shattock commented in a release. "The next step is to take the vaccine forward to further trials [on preventing infection in humans], but until that's done, we won't know whether it is truly protective or not."
Chlamydia can often go undetected in the human body, regardless of gender, which makes regular STI testing—and, potentially, a vaccine—a critically important tool to prevent the infection's spread, according to health experts.
Left untreated, chlamydia can lead to a number of significant health issues related to a person's age and gender. In women, it can lead to urinary problems, discharge from the cervix, and pelvic inflammatory disease, a "serious infection" of the reproductive organs that can cause infertility, according to ASHA.
In men, untreated chlamydia can lead to prostate inflammation, scarring of the urethra, and infertility, among other things. In infants, it can also lead to blindness and potentially deadly pneumonia complications.
