Vaccines against Emerging Sexually Transmitted Infections: Current Preventive Tools and Future Perspectives

Vaccines have historically played a pivotal role in reducing the burden of infectious diseases and now play a crucial role in the setting of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, there remain several unmet goals: vaccines are available only for viral STIs, vaccination accessibility and uptake remain disproportionate worldwide, and no effective vaccine has been developed for HCV. Moreover, there are no vaccines against bacterial STIs: fewer investments in research have been made, because vaccines are not a top priority due to the availability of effective treatments. However, higher rates of resistance to all available antibiotics has led to a shift in research priorities. Several promising vaccine candidates have been identified or are being investigated in pre-clinical or clinical trials, although further understanding of the immunogenicity, effectiveness and delivery strategies of already licensed vaccines is needed. This paper focuses on current research efforts to develop vaccines against bacterial (e.g. gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis) and viral (e.g. HCV) STIs. We also review current indications and evidence of effectiveness of already available vaccines (e.g. HAV, HBV and HPV) and discuss open issues. ©2022 by EDIMES - Edizioni Internazionali Srl. All rights reserved.