Who’d have thought, none other than the koala would emerge as the potential answer to eradicating the elusive STI that is chlamydia!
Koalas are known to be adversely affected by chlamydia, but the bacteria responsible is similar to that found in humans, prompting scientists to search for a cure that could benefit both species.
Chlamydia is the most common STD worldwide; 131 million new cases are reported every year.
Although antibiotics for the disease exist, they’re not effective enough, simply because chlamydia manifests few symptoms and can go undetected for years, eventually leading to infertility – this is why regular testing is so important chaps!
A bit of background about chlamydia
The word “chlamydia” means “cloaklike mantle” and finds its way into cells and hides from your immune system – a very fitting name for the disease given the way it attacks the body.
Once it has made itself at home, it wraps itself in a membrane envelope and takes over the host cell’s mechanisms and emits copies of itself.
The copies burst from the cell or make their way into your bloodstream. It’s quite a unique virus in the sense that it survives very well inside the body, doesn’t kill the host and the damage it causes occurs over time.
Koalas & humans: the similarities
The bacteria responsible for the severe inflammation, cysts and scarring of the reproductive tract in koalas is curiously similar to that found in humans. These similarities have resulted in vaccine trials by wildlife consulting company Timms and Endeavour Veterinary Ecology, who hope to develop a human vaccine.
They hope to create a vaccine package that not only protects against chlamydia but against gonorrhoea and HPV.
Their research centres around unpicking the complex immune response that’s prompted in koalas which at the moment, humans have very limited understanding of.
Potentially pioneering research
So far, the research has proved effective, with the test vaccine taking effect within 60 days and manifesting immune responses that can span their whole reproductive lives. Timms and Endeavour hope to adapt it to be suitable in the field.
It’s important to get tested for chlamydia after each new sexual partner. Pop down to your local walk-in clinic or visit your GP for a simple, painless test.