vaccines

Gonorrhoea is the second most common sexually transmitted disease in the world, with 80 million cases each year. There is no effective vaccine, and the bacteria responsible are becoming resistant to common antibiotics. Some studies have suggested that the meningococcal B vaccine, a unrelated bacterium, may offer partial protection against gonorrhoea. Now, an Italian team has identified 17 antibodies that could explain this cross-immunity, which, according to the authors, could be used to develop treatments and vaccines. The results are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

According to the results of a phase 2 trial, an oral norovirus vaccine generated a strong mucosal immune response and even reduced viral shedding in vaccinated volunteers. Signs of the vaccine's efficacy support its potential to address the lack of safe and reliable vaccines against this virus, which is a major cause of gastrointestinal infections worldwide. The results were published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

An Australian team has conducted a study involving mice and humans that suggests that vaccine boosters would be more effective if administered in the same arm as the previous dose, at least in the short term. However, other recent research has pointed in the opposite direction. The results are published in the journal Cell.

If immunisation rates continue to decline over an extended period, measles and even other eradicated diseases—such as rubella and polio—could re-emerge in the United States at endemic levels, according to a new study published today in the journal JAMA.

A study published in Nature magazine analysed the medical records of elderly Welsh men and women and discovered that those who had been vaccinated against shingles were 20% less likely to develop dementia in the following seven years. This effect was greater in women. The findings support the theory that viruses that affect the nervous system can increase the risk of dementia.

From 1 January to 23 February 2025, more than half as many cases of measles had already been reported in Spain as in the previous year. To analyse the causes of this spike, assess the seriousness of the situation and the measures to be taken, the Science Media Centre Spain organised a briefing with Noemí López Perea, researcher at the National Epidemiology Centre (CNE-ISCIII), Fernando Moraga-Llop, paediatrician, spokesperson and senior member of the Spanish Vaccinology Association (AEV), and María del Mar Tomás, spokesperson of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC).

A review of 14 studies and data from more than 130 million patients has found an association between the use of drugs such as anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics and vaccines and a reduced risk of dementia. The authors recall that “the fact that a particular drug is associated with an altered risk of dementia does not necessarily mean that it causes or helps against it.” However, “pooling these huge health data sets provides a source of evidence that can help us decide which drugs to try first.” The research is published in the journal Alzheimer's and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. 

The new US president, Donald Trump, announced on his first day that the country will leave the World Health Organisation (WHO) within the next twelve months. The reasons behind the decision, according to him, are the ‘mismanagement of the covid-19 pandemic and other global health crises’, as well as ‘disproportionate payments compared to other countries’ dues’.

A team led by the CEU San Pablo University has analysed the role of vaccination against influenza on the risk of infection and mortality. The meta-analysis, published in European Respiratory Review, includes 192 articles from different countries over the last 20 years and includes data from more than 6.5 million patients. The results show that the level of protection varies according to age group and influenza subtype. Although it does not reduce the risk of infection for influenza A H3N2 in those over 65 years of age, nor does it show a reduction in mortality for influenza B - which is less associated with mortality than influenza A - overall, vaccination is shown to be effective in both preventing infection and reducing mortality.

The RH5.1/Matrix-M vaccine is effective and safe against malaria, according to a phase 2b clinical trial in infants in Burkina Faso published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Two other vaccines are already approved against malaria, a disease caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, but this one acts at a different stage of the disease: when the malaria parasite is present in the blood. The other two vaccines attack the parasite when reaches the liver.