ISTOCK, KTSIMAGEFollowing any vaccination, there is normally a delay of a week or two before protection kicks in, during which time the immune system is gearing up its adaptive response. But a potential new cholera vaccine—created by genetically engineering a nontoxic version of the Vibrio cholerae bacteria—has been shown to exert a probiotic effect that protect rabbits from lethal disease just one day after inoculation.
This probiotic form of protection against cholera also works in mice by giving them Lactococcus lactis bacteria, which is normally found in cheese. Both studies were reported in Science Translational Medicine today (June 13).
“Many times we’ve thought that we’ve conquered cholera,” says Robert Hall of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who was not involved in either research project. But despite the existing vaccines and public health interventions, he says, “still cholera is this huge problem . . . so, it’s really wonderful that scientists are still working on this and they see the risks and are developing contingency plans. That’s a really positive thing.”
The bacterium V. cholerae infects between 3 million and 5 million people worldwide each year and kills ...
