Vaccine for ‘ traveller’s diarrhoea’ in the offing

Washington, Sept. 26: In an effort to develop a preventive vaccine against traveller's diarrhoea, scientists have discovered how the bacteria behind the disorder works to cause infection.

Researchers, including those from the University of Georgia in the US, analysed samples taken directly from citizens who volunteered to become infected with the bacteria called Enterotoxigenic E coli, or ETEC, a major cause of traveller’s diarrhoea.

“If we can understand how ETEC causes disease, we can develop new vaccines to prevent infections,” said Stephen Trent, a professor at the University of Georgia.

Ingesting contaminated food or water can lead to ETEC infection, which can cause diarrhoea for up to a week, according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Considering the fact that up to 200 million people become infected annually, an estimated one billion days of human productivity are lost every year due to ETEC infections, researchers said.

Visiting the doctor to get vaccinated before a trip can prevent travellers from catching a disease, they said.

There are no available vaccines to prevent ETEC infections, so travellers must constantly be concerned about what they eat and drink while on vacation.

The group examined how ETEC behaved inside humans during infection.

They were surprised to find that ETEC produced more toxins when grown in the laboratory than it did in human infection samples.

The researchers discovered that ETEC could sense oxygen in the atmosphere.