New vaccines may not reduce tuberculosis incidence

Despite the potential of new vaccines to prevent TB, new research shows that the removal of one strain of TB can allow a previously suppressed strain to succeed. Consequently, a vaccination program could result in the proliferation of strains more likely to be, or become, drug resistant, and could even result in an increased prevalence of the disease. The new research from the University of Bristol, in collaboration with colleagues in the USA, is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Tuberculosis is caused by infection with the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There are nearly nine million new cases of TB each year and two million deaths world wide. A major priority in medical research is the development of new, more effective anti-TB vaccines. To date, this effort has yielded more... [read full story]