TB vaccine candidate shows early potential in mice

Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Colorado State University report in the September 4 issue of Nature Medicine that "[a] potential vaccine against tuberculosis [TB] has been found to completely eliminate tuberculosis bacteria from infected tissues in some mice," according to a HHMI press release. "The vaccine was created with a strain of bacteria that, due to the absence of a few genes, are unable to avoid its host's first-line immune response," the release states, adding, "Once this first-line defense has been activated, it triggers the more specific immune response that can protect against future infections" (9/4). A spokesperson for the campaign group TB Alert told BBC News, "These are interesting experiments but it is too early to tell what impact they will have on the development of a safe and effective vaccine," the news service reports (Gallagher, 9/4).