New Vaccine for TB

Scientists are working on a new TB vaccine that would work in combination with the existing BCG medication. The six-year study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is being conducted by a team of researchers at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, with parallel trials in Africa.

Known as MVA85A, the new vaccine, when used with the current BCG vaccine, is expected to reactivate BCG's effect on adults. BCG, first introduced in 1921, is a good TB vaccine for children, but its effect wears off after about 10 years. The new vaccine works by asking immune cells to "remember" the first BCG vaccine and create a bigger barrier to TB.

Research leader Dr. Helen McShane said, "Because BCG is often not effective, especially among adults and in some parts of the developing world, we have the chance of giving many more people protection and hopefully saving lots of lives."

According to the World Health Organization, TB could kill 35 million people in the next 20 years if new controls are not introduced. The number of recorded cases of TB in England and Wales rose from 5,085 in 1987 to 6,797 in 1999, according to the Public Health Laboratory Service.

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