HIV patients hold clues to salmonella vaccine

Scientists have said a new study into the link between salmonella infections and HIV could assist the efforts to create a vaccine for the food poisoning condition.

The study published in the journal Science explains that nontyphoidal strains of salmonella (NTS), which is predominantly contracted by consuming infected foods such as uncooked meat and eggs, can also cause fatal bloodstream infections in people with compromised immunity, such as those with HIV.

It was found that blood from HIV-infected adults harboured an excessive level of antibodies targeting lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which are unable to eradicate salmonella and ultimately “do more harm than good”.

Dr Cal MacLennan from the University of Birmingham, who led the research, said the observations are pertinent to current efforts to develop a salmonella vaccine which targets LPS.

He added that the link between HIV infection and fatal cases of NTS “has been known since the onset of the Aids pandemic 26 years ago, but this is the first time we’ve been able to offer a scientific explanation why”.

The findings from the study also suggested that outer membrane proteins could potentially serve as alternative vaccine targets, with the team stating that it is currently investigating this option.