An Update on New Vaccines for Tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common and deadly communicable diseases in the world, infectingapproximately one-third of the total human race. The number of drug-resistant TB cases are increasing. The spectrum of resistance varies from single to multidrug and from multidrug to total drug resistance varieties. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is also responsible for the recent re-emergence of tuberculosis infection worldwide. When drugs are becoming ineffective against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, there is a need to focus more on preventive strategies. Though Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is efficient in preventing miliary and meningeal tuberculosis in children, it is not effective against pulmonary tuberculosis. For prevention of pulmonary tuberculosis, development of new vaccines is the need of time. Several new vaccines are under clinical trials either to replace old BCG or act as a booster for the current BCG vaccine. New vaccines include live Contribution/ OriginalityThis study reviews current knowledge regarding the status of development of new vaccines for tuberculosis.