The search for a vaccine for syphilis. An epidemiological approach.

Attempts to devise a vaccine against syphilis have been pursued for decades but thus far with little success. For the most part investigations have been focused on Treponema pallidum, modified in various ways, on the Reiter treponeme and its protein fractions, and on the closely related Borrelia organism. Inoculation with Treponema pallidum produces a degree ofimmunity to re-infection and Neisser (1911) and others suggested that this immunity persisted