Abstract
The bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the only licensed vaccine for human use against tuberculosis (TB). Although controversy exists about its efficacy, the BCG vaccine is able to protect newborns and children against disseminated forms of TB, but fails to protect adults against active forms of TB. In the last few years, interest in the mucosal delivery route for the vaccine has been increasing owing to its increased capacity to induce protective immune responses both in the mucosal and the systemic immune compartments. Here, we show the importance of this route of vaccination in newly developed vaccines, especially for vaccines against TB.
Highlights
The bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the only licensed vaccine for human use against tuberculosis (TB)
Oral mucosal vaccines have considerable advantages compared to systemic injections, including ease of administration, improved practicality for mass vaccination, increased patient compliance and ease of production due to a decreased need to purify bacterial by products such as endotoxin, as the gut already harbours trillions of commensal bacteria (Kim et al 2012, Owen et al 2013)
Only a very limited number of mucosal vaccines have been approved for human use and are on the market: the oral polio vaccine, the oral killed-wholecell B subunit and live-attenuated cholera vaccines, the oral live-attenuated typhoid vaccine, the oral bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) live vaccine [used in Brazil for vaccination against tuberculosis (TB) up until the 1970s] and the oral adenovirus vaccine (Rhee et al 2012)
Summary
The bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the only licensed vaccine for human use against tuberculosis (TB). Mucosal vaccines can induce both systemic and mucosal immunity, including antigen (Ag)-specific response, especially at mucosal surfaces, which are the frontlines of pathogen infections (Ranasinghe 2014). In 1921, Calmette chose the oral route for BCG vaccination for its simplicity of administration, its penetration through the intestinal epithelium in newborn animals and babies and for its capacity to induce specific mycobacterial immunity through this route.
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