Articles of Significant Interest in This Issue

Abstract

Chlamydial infections in women cause reproductive tract pathologies and infertility. There is no effective vaccine against this pathogen. Shillova et al. (e00413-20) show that per-oral immunization with live or killed Chlamydia muridarum protects against vaginal challenge, reflected in reduced Chlamydia burden and reproductive tract pathology. Secreted IgA induced by per-oral immunization neutralizes Chlamydia, thus lowering infectivity, hindering ascension to the upper reproductive tract, and accelerating Chlamydia clearance. The authors propose that the gut-associated lymphoid tissue is the inductive site for reproductive tract B cell responses and that per-oral immunization may also be effective for developing vaccines against other sexually transmitted pathogens.