Sexual Health Vaccines
by Laura Lambert
August is National Immunization Awareness Month — time to consider the state of sexual health vaccines. Vaccines are one of the most powerful tools we have against widespread disease. Recently, sexual health vaccines have been making inroads against sexually transmitted disease. The rate of new hepatitis B infections has fallen dramatically since the 1980s, when the hepatitis B vaccine was first available. Public health officials have similar hopes for the HPV vaccine, which protects us against the types of HPV that cause most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts.
But hepatitis B and HPV are just two of the sexually transmitted infections that exist today. Scientists are pursuing additional vaccines that may further change the landscape of sex and infection. Three exciting fronts in their effort are chlamydia, herpes, and HIV.
Chlamydia
Chlamydia affects about three million American women and men each year, making it the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the United States, today. Because of the complexity of the chlamydia bacteria, research for a vaccine has proven difficult. But scientists in Alabama, Maryland, Texas, and Brisbane, Australia, have had recent, promising successes in animal studies.
Herpes
Clinical trials of Herpevac, a vaccine to prevent herpes, are still underway, but the project has been stymied by lack of funding. Preliminary results suggest that the herpes vaccine is about 75 percent effective in women, but, thus far, not in men or those with HIV. Results from the latest round of clinical trials are expected in 2009.
HIV
Research into a vaccine that could prevent HIV has been in the works for 20 years. In 2006 alone, $933 million was invested in HIV vaccine research. Despite a recent setback, in which a clinical trial was canceled due to a failed vaccine, hope continues.
Published: 10.27.06 | Updated: 08.26.08
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