Prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) at least nine years in advance, and possibly avoid the use of antibiotic therapy. These are the promises of a vaccine candidate, administered in the form of an oral spray, the subject of research whose results have just been presented at the congress of European Association of Urology (Eau), underway in Paris. The study showed that 54% of men and women who received the treatment (all participants suffered from recurrent urinary tract infections) did not experience any symptoms of the disorder for nine years following administration, without complaining of any effects noteworthy collaterals. Final results are expected to be published by the end of this year.
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Recurrent urinary tract infections, what they are and how they are treated
Urinary tract infections are one of the most widespread bacterial infections: according to the latest data, they affect half of women and one in five men. The treatment of choice is antibiotics, but in about a third of cases there is a return of the infection after recovery; and the percentage, according to many clinicians, is destined to rise due to the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance, which reduces the effectiveness of treatments. This is why the scientific community has been studying and testing new approaches for some time, including, precisely, the vaccine we are talking about today.
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A pineapple flavored treat
The vaccine trial was conducted by scientists from Royal Berkshire Hospital, in the United Kingdom, and involved 89 patients followed for nine years. The drug is called MV140, and comes in the form of a pineapple flavored spray that should be sprayed under the tongue once a day for three months. “Before this vaccine was available,” he commented Bob Yang, urologist at Royal Berkshire and co-author of the study, “all participants had suffered from UTI, a difficult condition to treat, particularly for women. For the next nine years, half of the participants remained free of infections; the other half suffered less severe infections, many of which went away simply by drinking plenty of water. What’s more, the vaccine is easy to take and appears to have no serious side effects. Many of the participants stated that the treatment significantly improved their quality of life.”
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The details of the study
A few more details: Initially, patients were followed for 12 months, and the first results (only for female participants) were published in 2017. The study then continued: researchers analyzed the electronic medical records of all patients for the following nine years and asked them periodically for information on their health status after administration of the vaccine. 48 participants remained infection-free for all nine years of follow-up; the average infection-free period was four and a half years (57 months for women and 44 for men) and four out of ten participants said they had received repeated doses of the vaccine after one or two years. “These are very promising results,” he said Gernot Bonkat, president of the EAU guidelines on urological infections. “Recurrent infections represent a significant economic burden on healthcare and the excessive use of antibiotics can lead to an increase in antibiotic resistance. This vaccine represents a potential breakthrough in the prevention of urinary tract infections and could offer a safe and effective alternative to conventional treatments.”
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