BACKGROUND To explore Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine (BCG) as a protective factor against tuberculosis (TB) and how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection modifies the effect of BCG on TB. METHODS Two matched case-control studies were conducted. One study compared TB cases and controls who were HIV positive. The second compared TB cases and controls who were HIV negative. The study po...

Protein subunit vaccines present a compelling new area of research for control of tuberculosis (TB). Based on the interaction between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its host, five stage-specific antigens of M. tuberculosis that participate in TB pathogenesis--Rv1813, Rv2660c, Ag85B, Rv2623, and HspX--were selected. These antigens were verified to be recognized by T cells from a total of 42 whol...

While BCG vaccine protects against severe tuberculosis (TB) in children, its effect against adult TB is questionable. Furthermore, it is not known if HIV co-infection modifies the effect of BCG. Among 352 pairs of Tanzanian TB cases and matched controls, the BCG scar was associated with a reduced risk of TB (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.7, p=0.005), irrespective of HIV status (interaction, p=0.623)....

T he burden of tuberculosis (TB) today is greatest in low-income countries: over 90% of all cases arise there, and over 95% of deaths from the disease occur there; 1 moreover, a high and increasing proportion of cases in many industrialized countries occur in people who were born and became infected in low-income countries, before they moved to the country where their TB has been detected. 2 Th...

Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common opportunistic disease and a potentially fatal complication among immunocompromised individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Effective vaccination against TB in persons with HIV has been considered unlikely because of the central role that CD4 cells play in controlling tuberculous infections. Here we show that the vaccination of CD8(-/-) ...

Adult tuberculosis (TB) is the main cause of TB epidemic and death. The infection results mainly by endogenous reactivation of latent TB infection and secondarily transmitted by exogenous infection. There is no vaccine for adult TB. To this end, we first chose antigens from a potential antigenic reservoir. The antigens strongly recognized T cells from latent and active TB infections that respon...

Mycobacterium bovis BCG is widely used as a vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), despite its variable protective efficacy. Relatively little is known about the immune response profiles following BCG vaccination in relation to protection against TB. Here we tested whether BCG vaccination results in immune responses to DosR (Rv3133c) regulon-encoded proteins. These so-called TB latency antigens are...

Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination of new born babies can protect children against tuberculosis (TB), but fails to protect adults consistently against pulmonary TB underlying the urgent need to develop novel TB vaccines. Majority of first generation TB vaccine candidates have relied on a very limited number of antigens typically belonging to the active phase of infection. We have designe...

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health threat of alarming proportions, resulting in 1.5 million deaths worldwide. The only available licensed vaccine, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, does not confer lifelong protection against active TB. To date, development of an effective vaccine against TB has proven to be elusive, and devising newer approaches for improved vaccination outcomes is an essential ...

BACKGROUND Vaccination against tuberculosis (TB) should provide long-term protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). The current TB vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), protects against disseminated childhood TB, but protection against lung TB in adolescents and adults is variable and mostly poor. One potential reason for the limited durability of protection may be waning...