Inflammation and immune activation are associated with risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in BCG-vaccinated infants
- Journal:
- Nature Communications
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1038/s41467-022-34061-7
- Affiliations:
- 5
- Authors:
- 14
Research Highlight
Key insights for developing new tuberculosis vaccine
© RUTH JENKINSON/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
Inflammation and immune activation are associated with the risk of infection by the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in vaccinated infants.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, tuberculosis claimed more lives globally than any other infectious disease.
The Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis, but it doesn’t offer full protection, especially in areas where the disease is endemic. Thus, researchers are seeking to develop a more effective vaccine. To inform these efforts, it is important to identify immune correlates of protection.
Now, a team that included researchers from the University of Cape Town in South Africa has found that immune correlates of protection for infection with the bacterium that causes tuberculosis differ from those for the full-blown disease.
In addition to providing key insights for efforts to develop a new vaccine, the finding implies that prevention of infection studies do not offer a reliable cheap alternative for prevention of disease studies.
References
- Nature Communications 13, 6594 (2022). doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-34061-7