A study conducted by ETH Zurich and University of Basel researchers demonstrated that combining oral vaccinations with harmless competitor bacteria creates a highly effective strategy against intestinal pathogens like salmonella and E. coli. This combined approach proved significantly more successful than using either vaccines or competitor bacteria alone, as the harmless bacteria fill the ecological niche left after vaccination, preventing pathogens from recolonizing.
The researchers demonstrated that this approach works with both genetically engineered and naturally occurring bacterial strains that compete with pathogens for the same resources and living conditions in the intestines. This method could potentially eliminate harmful and antibiotic-resistant bacteria without using antibiotics, making it especially valuable before surgical procedures or for travelers visiting regions with unfamiliar bacterial strains that are foreign to their microbiome. Though promising, further research is needed to apply this approach to clinically relevant microbial strains in humans.
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