Initial Tests of New TB Vaccine Produce ‘Strong Immune’ Responses, Study Says

The results of an initial test of a new tuberculosis vaccine indicate that it produces "strong" immune responses in adults regardless of whether they have received previous TB vaccinations, according to a study published in the October issue of Nature Medicine, Reuters/Yahoo! News reports (Rauscher, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 10/25). Dr. Helen McShane of the Center for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine at Oxford University and colleagues found through clinical trials of 42 adults ages 18 to 55 that their newly developed vaccine -- called MVA85A -- caused study participants to produce a "high number" of T cells that fight off the disease despite whether they previously had received the standard BCG vaccination, according to BBC News. The researchers said they plan to test the vaccine in developing countries and already have launched a study in Gambia. "It's very encouraging because, in the long term, we're never going to get rid of TB unless we have a decent vaccine," Paul Sommerfeld, chair of TB Alert, said (BBC News, 10/24).