A group of researchers, working in collaboration between the Animal Health Laboratory of Quebec (Canada), the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Nature Research Center and the University of Guelph (Canada), has developed an innovative vaccine to combat Lyme disease.
Instead of focusing solely on developing a vaccine to prevent infection with the bacteria Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Borrelia mayonii, which cause Lyme disease, this team took a different approach.
They created a type of vaccine designed to reduce the ability of ticks to transmit the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease. This vaccine was designed to be administered to host animals and its goal is to prevent ticks from spreading dangerous bacteria.
In a study published in the journal Microbiome, researchers explain the new strategy they have adopted to counter the threat of Lyme disease. They used a harmless genetically engineered bacterium that can elicit an immune response in a host such as a mouse or human. This approach led to the production of special antibodies that alter the tick’s internal environment, making it unsuitable for harboring Lyme disease bacteria.
The modified bacteria was made into a vaccine and injected into laboratory mice. This induced a minor infection in the mice, and when the ticks bit those mice, the antibodies were transferred to the ticks. This process prevented ticks from becoming carriers of dangerous bacteria and transmitting them to other hosts.
Should this vaccine be administered to humans, farm animals, or pets, it would serve as an effective means of preventing the spread of Lyme disease. This would result from reducing the number of infected ticks in a given area. Researchers believe that this type of vaccine could be useful in regions with a large population of infected ticks, thus helping to reduce Lyme disease.
Source: 360medical.ro
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2023-08-04 10:21:26
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