NIH is Giving UNC $10M to Research Chlamydia Vaccine

Chlamydia is curable with oral antibiotics, but it’s still not something you’d ever want to contract. It can lead to infertility and chronic pelvic pain in women and is linked to an increased risk for ovarian cancer. Although it’s the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection, there is no vaccine to prevent infection. A recent article from Infection Control Today suggested that could all change soon with a hefty investment from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The NIH has agreed to give researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and their colleagues in the US, Europe and Australia, $10.7 million over a span of five years to identify a candidate for the vaccine. The move is part of a larger effort in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases and infections in which four cooperative research centers will receive funding to develop vaccines for chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea.