Abstract
Tuberculosis kills more people worldwide than any other single infectious disease agent, a threat made more dire by the spread of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Development of new vaccines capable of preventing TB disease and new Mtb infection are an essential component of the strategy to combat the TB epidemic. Accordingly, the WHO considers the development of new TB vaccines a major public health priority. In October 2017, the WHO convened a consultation with global leaders in the TB vaccine development field to emphasize the WHO commitment to this effort and to facilitate creative approaches to the discovery and development of TB vaccine candidates. This review summarizes the presentations at this consultation, updated with scientific literature references, and includes discussions of the public health need for a TB vaccine; the status of efforts to develop vaccines to replace or potentiate BCG in infants and develop new TB vaccines for adolescents and adults; strategies being employed to diversify vaccine platforms; and new animal models being developed to facilitate TB vaccine development. A perspective on the status of these efforts from the major funders and organizational contributors also is included. This presentation highlights the extraordinary progress being made to develop new TB vaccines and provided a clear picture of the exciting development pathways that are being explored.
Highlights
Tuberculosis kills more people worldwide than any other single infectious disease agent, a threat made more dire by the spread of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)
This study revealed that nurses who were TST positive had a 96% reduced risk of developing clinical TB than did the nurses who were TST negative, with an annual TB rate of 4% to 5% observed in the TST-negative nurses, suggesting a meaningful degree of protection against TB disease stemming from latent TB infection (LTBI)
As the TB vaccine development field moves forward, it will be important to educate potential funders as to the barriers faced in conducting clinical trials of TB vaccines and to clearly frame the specific goals of these trials
Summary
Tuberculosis kills more people worldwide than any other single infectious disease agent, a threat made more dire by the spread of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). This review summarizes the presentations at this consultation, updated with scientific literature references, and includes discussions of the public health need for a TB vaccine; the status of efforts to develop vaccines to replace or potentiate BCG in infants and develop new TB vaccines for adolescents and adults; strategies being employed to diversify vaccine platforms; and new animal models being developed to facilitate TB vaccine development. A perspective on the status of these efforts from the major funders and organizational contributors is included This presentation highlights the extraordinary progress being made to develop new TB vaccines and provided a clear picture of the exciting development pathways that are being explored.
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