Vaccine for Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Women

Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect approximately 10% of women in the United States. Since antibiotic prophylaxis is not always effective, alternate treatments need to be developed. One such treatment would be immunization with a vaccine containing bacteria known to cause these infections. The objective of the study is to immunize susceptible women with inactivated bacteria contained in a vaginal suppository and to monitor the rates of reinfection compared to a group of women treated with placebo suppositories. Each group of patients will receive a total of six suppositories in the first four-months of the six-month study during which all UTIs and side effects will be recorded. The infection rates between vaccine- and placebo-treated women will be statistically analyzed to determine vaccine efficacy.