A study involving Kenyan sex workers illuminates the immune response to gonorrhea, paving the way for more effective vaccines. Carried out by scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Oxford working in collaboration with the KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Unity in Kenya, the study is published in the journal Nature Communications . The findings come amid recent reports showing gonorrhea —a sexually transmitted disease —is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and could become untreatable in the future.
People infected with gonorrhea may experience pain or burning though, if untreated, they may go on to develop more serious problems including infertility, systemic infection and increased risk of HIV/AIDS. There are now multidrug resistant strains of the Neisseria gonorrheae (Ng) bacterium—which causes gonorrhea—making many antibiotics ineffective as first-line treatments. The bacterium has a range of mechanisms to dampen immune responses, meaning there is insufficient immunological 'memory' to combat subsequent infections.
Attempts to develop a vaccine against gonorrhea have been largely unsuccessful. However, in 2017, a study showed that vaccination against a related bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) led to a reduction in the incidence of gonorrhea. Although the efficacy of the Nm vaccine against Ng was limited, it provided an important clue to making an effective Ng vaccine.
Working with a marginalized community of sex workers in coastal Kenya who have high.