An experimental Vaccine may one day offer an alternative to antibiotics for the prevention of chronic urinary tract infections in people with a history of this problem, according to preliminary results from a long-term study.

The study tested the pineapple-flavored oral MV140 vaccine, also called Uromune, that’s designed to be sprayed under the tongue. For the study, scientists asked 89 men and women with a history of UTIs to take two sprays of the vaccine daily for three months.

“Before having the vaccine, all our participants suffered with recurrent UTIs, and for many women, these can be difficult to treat,” said Bob Yang, MD, who co-led the study and serves as a consultant urologist at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, in the statement.

People Who Used the Uromune Vaccine Had Fewer UTIs

None of the participants had UTIs when they initially started treatment with the vaccine. Two in five of them received additional doses of the vaccine one or two years after their initial course of treatment.

Researchers didn’t report any side effects associated with the vaccine, according to the statement.

“Overall, this vaccine is safe in the long term and our participants reported having fewer UTIs that were less severe,” Dr. Yang said in the statement. “Many of those who did get a UTI told us that simply drinking plenty of water was enough to treat it.”

While the results are preliminary and will need to be verified by additional trials, Yang said it’s possible primary care providers might one day be able to prescribe a three-month course of the vaccine to prevent repeated UTIs in people who have a history of these infections.

Uromune Not Yet Available in the U.S.

“It could be a game changer for UTI prevention if it’s offered widely, reducing the need for antibiotic treatments,” Yang said in the statement.

But U.S. patients will have a long wait. The vaccine is still experimental, and not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Even so, the results so far suggest the vaccine has the potential to dramatically transform care for the better, says J. Curtis Nickel, MD, a professor emeritus at Queens University and a urologist at Kingston Health Sciences Centre in Ontario.

“Recurrent UTI causes significant patient burden in terms of pain, disability, urinary symptoms, antibiotic side effects, time off work and activities, psychological issues like depression and anxiety, and stress — and increases personal and societal antibiotic resistance,” Dr. Nickel says. “MV140 is more effective and has fewer side effects than the present treatment and preventative modality, [which is] antibiotics.”