I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again- vaccines are incredible! I think we as a human race are pretty awesome for developing something to combat deadly diseases. Unfortunately, some diseases are just too complex for us to make an effective vaccine for. Syphilis and Gonorrhea, both sexually transmitted diseases with virulent drug-resistant strains, do not currently have an effective vaccine developed. As you can imagine, this makes incidence of these infections that much more prevalent, dangerous, and alarming.
You may have heard of Gonorrhea, but did you know that about 100 million cases of the STD is reported each year world-wide?! That number is insane and just goes to show the extreme prevalence of Gonorrhea. According to a recent article by Healio, the cases of the fatal STD has increased 67% (think about that number for a second) from 2014 to 2017. Gonorrhea, caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, used to be treated easily through the use of antibiotics. Over time, this STD has developed antibiotic-resistant strains that has become increasingly difficult to fight. The article mentions that there is no current vaccine for Gonorrhea but discusses a potential candidate. A study by researchers in New Zealand is currently examining the effectiveness of B meningococcal vaccine, or MeNZB against Gonorrhea. According to the article, this study is the first successful attempt at determining a possible vaccine for Gonorrhea! MeNZB evoked an anti-gonococcal response in immunized rabbits and when given to people under the age of 20, showed promising outcomes. Granted, the estimated vaccine effectiveness was only 31%, I still see that as a win against N. gonorrhoeae.
Unfortunately, the list of diseases without a proper vaccine preventative goes on and on. According to a recent article by The Conversation, a Syphilis infection, caused by spiral shaped Treponema pallidum, is easily treated by inexpensive antibiotics. Great. So, what makes Syphilis so dangerous? As easy as it is to treat Syphilis, prevention is almost not possible through medicine. The fact of the matter is, a Syphilis infection almost always leads to other medical issues. Ulcers appear with an infection although they are typically painless and in an unnoticeable place. Also, Syphilis is typically asymptomatic which makes its transmission from person to person veerryy easy; syphilis is typically not diagnosed for a long time after the infection because of this reason. It also has the potential to go into a latent phase and remain in the body/reemerge in years down the line causing further issues like tissue damage, pregnancy issues, and even infertility. According to the article, there is no vaccine for Syphilis. Although this article (nor any other one I came across) did not mention the reason why there is no Syphilis vaccine yet, it can be assumed that the complexity of the bacterium, it’s many strains, and its infectious course (latency and all) are the reason. I do have hope for a Syphilis vaccine in the future because of how good of a candidate Syphilis is: many people world-wide get Syphilis each year and with the medical innovation occurring everyday, I’m certain that researches studying this disease will soon develop and effective vaccine.
The takeaway message here is to know your partner’s medical history and get tested! Stay safe, kids.
Microbiology for Smarties 