In the Media 2005

Koalas May Hold the Key
News Source: QUTlinks Alumni Magazine, August 2005
By: Mechelle Webb

QUT researchers are working on a way to protect women – and koalas – from certain types of infertility and eye disease.

RESEARCHERS at QUT believe Australia’s iconic koala could hold the key to developing an effective vaccine against the most common sexually transmitted disease in humans worldwide – chlamydia.

QUT recently hosted the International Chlamydia Conference in Brisbane which brought together national and international experts to discuss latest research and developments.

Professor Peter Timms from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) chaired the conference. He and his research team presented their latest findings on a chlamydial vaccine and a new diagnostic test for women.

Professor Timms said chlamydia cases were increasing by an estimated 20 percent each year, and that the bug was the major cause of infertility in women. But he said there was no human vaccine.

“By studying chlamydial disease in koalas as well as in humans, we hope to understand how this tiny bug can cause so many nasty diseases and how to develop a vaccine for use in humans,” he said.

“We are getting closer to discovering a chlamydia vaccine for koalas and hope to have a vaccine for human trials within a few short years.”

Professor Timms said QUT researchers were working with animal hospitals including the Koala and Wildlife Hospital, Wildlife Warriors Worldwide Ltd, based at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast, where veterinarian Dr Jon Hanger treats many koalas for chlamydia.

“It is a very significant cause of infertility, urinary tract infections and inflammation in the lining of the eye that can eventually lead to blindness,” Dr Hanger said.

Dr Hanger said the Zoo’s treatment success rate was currently less than 50 percent but that he hoped the IHBI research would help them predict which koalas were more likely to respond to treatment.

Professor Timms said his IHBI team was also making good progress with an improved diagnostic test for women at risk of chlamydia.

“At the moment, it is difficult to detect the infection in women where it can remain as a silent infection for years, eventually resulting in infertility,” he said.

“Women can have it for a long time and not know it until they find out they’re infertile, so detection is vital.

“It is encouraging to see the Commonwealth Government introduce surveillance and a pilot testing program for chlamydia as part of their Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategy.”

Professor Timms said there were different types of chlamydia bug which resulted in different diseases, including heart disease and respiratory infections which would lead to bronchitis and even pneumonia.