Does Eradicating Tuberculosis Require New Vaccines

During today's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Switzerland, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and others discuss what mechanisms can accelerate the development and deploy safe and effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccines.

The 'Ending Tuberculosis: How Do We Get There' live discussion is at this link. 

While no new TB vaccine has been licensed in 100 years, the prospects for novel effective TB vaccines have improved recently, with at least 16 vaccine candidates under development.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2022 Global TB report, more than 10 million people fell ill from TB, and 1.6 million died.

The WHO confirmed effective vaccines would undoubtedly be the best solution to prevent and potentially eradicate TB.

A recent WHO-commissioned study, An investment case for new TB vaccines, estimates that, over 25 years, a vaccine that is 50% effective in preventing disease among adolescents and adults could avert up to 76 million new TB cases and US$ 6.5 billion in costs.

The current century-old bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine continues offering disease protection.

According to a recent study funded by the U.S. NIH, BCG vaccination at birth effectively prevents TB in young children.

And on August 15, 2022, research published by Cell Reports Medicine suggested BCG protection against infectious diseases and vaccine efficacy takes 1-2 years to manifest, but the protection may last decades.

In the U.S., the BCG vaccine is a limited distributed product. BCG is only considered for people who meet specific criteria and are in consultation with a TB expert., says the U.S. CDC.