BACKGROUND There is a need for new vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) that protect against adult pulmonary disease in regions where BCG is not effective. However, BCG could remain integral to TB control programmes because neonatal BCG protects against disseminated forms of childhood TB and many new vaccines rely on BCG to prime immunity or are recombinant strains of BCG. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma...

CD4(+) T cells are central in mediating granuloma formation and limiting growth and dissemination of mycobacterial infections. To determine whether T cells responding to influenza infection can interact with T cells responding to Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection and disrupt granuloma formation, we infected mice containing two monoclonal T cell populations specific for...

Mice with a targeted disruption of the interferon gamma receptor gene (IFN-gamma R0/0 mice) and control wild-type mice were inoculated with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) strain of Mycobacterium bovis. BCG infection was not lethal for wild-type mice whereas all IFN-gamma R0/0 mice died approximately 7-9 wk after inoculation. Histological examination at 2 and 6 wk after BCG inoculation showe...

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a monophasic clinical syndrome, characterized by immune-mediated demyelination of central nervous system neurons, which yield extensive damage in the brain and spinal cord.It usually affects children and young adults following infections or immunization. Here we describe a 9- year-old Fars female presented with acute onset of psychotic disorder, o...

Tuberculosis (TB) disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) remains one of the leading infectious causes of death and disease throughout the world. The only licensed vaccine, Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) confers highly variable protection against pulmonary disease. An effective vaccination regimen would be the most efficient way to control the epidemic. However, ...

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine exerts nonspecific immunostimulatory effects and may therefore represent a novel therapeutic option to treat sepsis-induced immunoparalysis. We investigated whether BCG vaccination modulates the systemic innate immune response in humans in vivo during experimental endotoxemia. We used inactivated gamma-irradiated BCG vaccine because of the potential risk of...

The chromosomal locus encoding the early secreted antigenic target, 6 kDa (ESAT-6) secretion system 1 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, also referred to as "region of difference 1 (RD1)," is absent from Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). In this study, using low-dose aerosol infection in mice, we demonstrate that BCG complemented with RD1 (BCG::RD1) displays markedly increased vir...

There is an urgent need for an improved vaccine against tuberculosis. Heterologous prime-boost immunization regimes induce higher levels of cellular immunity than homologous boosting with the same vaccine. Using BCG as the priming immunization in such a regime allows for the retention of the beneficial protective effects of BCG against disseminated disease in childhood. Recombinant poxviruses a...