Researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston created an oral vaccine for Salmonella poisoning. The vaccine's development was recently detailed in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.
Prior to creating the oral vaccine, UTMB researchers developed three vaccine candidates from genetically mutated Salmonella Typhimurium. These potential vaccines were administered to mice via injection and protected the rodents against a lethal dose of Salmonella, producing a robust immune response. However, an oral vaccine would be the least invasive and likely the most effective method of protection from Salmonella bacteria in humans. An oral vaccine would share the same ingestion pathway the bacteria use to harm the digestive system.
"In the current study, we analyzed the immune responses of mice that received the vaccination by mouth as well as how they responded to a lethal dose of Salmonella," said Ashok Chopra, PhD, one of the study's authors and UTMB professor of microbiology and immunology. "We found that the orally administered vaccines produced strong immunity against Salmonella, showing their potential for future use in people."
Currently, there is no vaccine available for Salmonella poisoning. Antibiotics provide a line of defense from the bacteria, but some strains of Salmonella are developing antibiotic resistance.
According to the CDC, Salmonella causes approximately 1.4 million infections annually in the U.S., resulting in 400 deaths every year.
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