TUBERCULOSIS VACCINES: CURRENT STATE AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infects nearly 2 billion people worldwide, with around 9 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths from tuberculosis (TB) each year. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the only other infectious disease responsible for more deaths each year than Mtb. A strategy that combines faster methods of diagnosis and more efficient drug therapy and prevention (including new vaccines) is the only way to decrease TB morbidity and mortality. So far, vaccine Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is the only vaccine available against TB. Despite its proven effectiveness on reducing the incidence of meningitis and disseminated TB in children, he has a limited action against pulmonary forms in adolescents and adults and its use is unsafe in immunocompromised patients. The development of new vaccines has increased in the last 20 years, with more than 10 candidates in various stages of clinical trials. It is necessary to initiate new research directions, both to improve existing vaccines and to discover new ones.

Keywords

• tuberculosis
• mycobacteria
• prophylactic
• vaccine
• bcg
• clinical trials