New UTI vaccine wards off infection for years, early studies suggest

A new mouth-spray vaccine reportedly stops urinary tract infections (UTIs) from coming back again and again, as can happen in many people prone to the condition.

The pineapple-flavored vaccine, called Uromune, has so far been tested in one study without a placebo group and one completed gold-standard clinical trial. Both studies suggest that, for more than half of the participants, the vaccine helped ward off recurrent UTIs for months. It will need more testing to be fully approved but shows promise.    

"Vaccines would be a Game changer for a huge number of people who are, at the moment, stuck with long-term UTIs and there's nothing that can help them," Jennifer Rohn, a researcher who specializes in renal medicine at University College London and was not involved in the studies, told Live Science. 

A new way to prevent UTIs?

UTIs can cause debilitating pain; abdominal cramping; and an urge to urinate when you don't need to. Approximately 50% of women will have a UTI at least once in their life; of those, 22% will experience recurrent infections. 

Women are about 30 times more likely to get UTIs than men.

Related: Dangerous 'superbugs' are a growing threat, and antibiotics can't stop their rise. What can?

Many patients who develop UTIs repeatedly are prescribed preventive antibiotics to help reduce their risk of future infections. Yet research shows that heavy reliance on antibiotics has led to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Plus, antibiotics can wipe out helpful bacteria in the body along with the disease-causing kind.