Newly Developed TB Vaccine More Effective Than Current Vaccine, Scientists Say

Australian scientists have developed a new tuberculosis vaccine they say is more effective and longer lasting than the current vaccine, the AAP/Sunday Herald Sun reports. Warwick Britton of the Centenary Institute at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues claim the vaccine has proven more effective in laboratory mice than the current BCG vaccine. The researchers also said that the vaccine might offer protection against TB for up to 20 years, while BCG lasts for up to 10 years (AAP/Sunday Herald Sun, 11/8). The Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Britton as saying that BCG "only works for about 10 years and therefore folks can develop tuberculosis later in life and that causes the spread of the disease" (Xinhuanet, 11/5). The researchers have sent the vaccine to the United States to be tested on guinea pigs and aim to begin human trials in five years (AAP/New Zealand Herald, 11/8).