Why Take care of your urinary tract health when there might be a vaccine?

There are a number of ways this "no apparent cause" might happen--not wiping front-to-back on the toilet can cause migration of fecal bacteria (ditto for wearing thongs). Peeing immediately after sex can be helpful, as is staying hydrated.

Now, why would you want to get a vaccine for a condition that may be painful but is hardly life threatening, when cranberry juice is apparently pretty effective (read here about scientific studies that back up this age-old folklore)? Oh, wait, there's no money in cranberry juice.

Fom Newswise:
Vaccine for Urinary Tract Infections Shows Early Promise

Released: 9/17/2009 8:30 PM EDT

Source: University of Michigan Health System

Newswise — Urinary tract infections are painful and recur all too often with no apparent cause: Ask any woman who has missed days of work due to one, or had to find emergency treatment while on vacation.

University of Michigan scientists have made an important step toward what could become the first effective vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections, if the robust immunity achieved in mice can be reproduced in humans.